


Snow

by Cacaphonia



Category: Goblin Slayer (All Media Types), Goblin Slayer (Anime), Goblin Slayer (Manga), Goblin Slayer - Kagyu Kumo
Genre: Awkward First Time, But we'll make sure to slay them all, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Fantasy, Dark Humor, Drama, Dynamic Duo, Erratic Gods, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, There will be goblins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 02:24:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17799350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cacaphonia/pseuds/Cacaphonia
Summary: High in the mountains, in a land of long nights and endless snow, where the Gods themselves tread among untouched wilderness, a pair of adventurers depart on a quest. One of them clad in grimy leather armor and a helm with broken horns, with a small round shield on his left arm and a sword of an odd length at his hip. The other one with sapphire eyes and honey-gold hair, dressed in flawless white robes, as white as the snow itself.The Earth Mother observes them with benevolent interest. Those two could be of use to her, perhaps? Mayhap they were the trump card she’d been waiting for so long? If she could nudge them off their path, guide them in the right direction… Surely that sweet priestess would be malleable and obey her commands?She tries and tries and tries, frustrated.But for some reason the dice won’t roll.





	1. Interlude

People say that the snow never leaves this land. That the nature here belongs only to the Gods themselves and is untouched by the hands of men - be they human, elven, or dwarf. That during summer the sun never goes down, while in the midst of winter eternal night falls and winter spirits roam these pine forests.

However, this year _something else_ was roaming, the locals had said. Dark shadows, small as children, but deformed and evil, with yellow eyes glowing in the darkness and screeching laughter piercing the night. They did not belong here, yet they’d made their home among the rocky mountain’s hidden passages and caves. And then refused to leave.

Adventurers had been sent – young, fresh-faced and naïve. They’d found their deaths inside an unnamed cave; their flesh becoming food for the monsters or wombs to grow their young. And the horde had grown.

A month later, a village had been attacked. It was a small one, far away from the main roads that lead to the City. There had been no time to call for help. The monsters had been too many to push back. It was a common enough story – the men were killed, the women taken, all the food pillaged, too. And the horde had grown.

The neighboring villages had found out too late. Terrified, they’d wondered: what if we’re next? There’d been no time to waste: four village chiefs had gathered and sent a messenger to the City, to their local Guild, with a request for help and a bounty so high that no adventurer would turn down. And the Guild had delivered: it had sent them men of great valor and skill, emerald-ranked. “Monster hunters”, the well-dressed Guild personnel had promised, with a powerful spell caster as their leader. Well equipped, too: with magical swords and staffs and even scrolls from the olden times. Surely that would do the trick…

However, by then the monsters had become too strong, too numerous… The emerald ranks had left for the forest and never come back. Thus a magical sword had found itself into the monsters’ hands and they were now well-equipped. And the horde kept growing.

Ashamed, the Guild had promised to find aid. A “specialist”, if one could say so. It had sent a letter, stamped and sealed with red wax, to the far lands of the Frontier. There, the ballads say, the legendary hero by the name of ‘Goblin Slayer’ helps all those in need.

Surely, _he_ would get the job done.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a long climb up into the mountains. Unnamed paths curled along rocky peaks and endless forests. Up and up and up the road went, unrelenting, blurring into snow-covered peaks. The snow glimmered under the short daylight, almost blinding, an untouched layer of whiteness covering the landscape as far as sight could reach.

The only citizens of this land were the age-old pine trees, or the occasional wolf or deer. The scent of pine sap wafted in the air, carried by the chilled winter air.

In this purest wilderness, two lost souls walked in silence. If one were inclined to listen carefully, they’d only hear the sound of snow squelching under their feet, disturbing this quiet winter spell.

One of them was clad in armor from head to toe, with a small round shield strapped to his left arm and a sword of odd length at his hip. A worn waxed cape of red-brown color hung around his shoulders, the only thing warding off the chilly winter air. It was the color of tree bark and if the man were to remain completely still, he’d be undistinguishable from the pines all around. His steps were as light and silent as a deer, though his whole demeanor was one of a predator. A short bow was in his arms, arrow nocked and pointing down, ready.

The other one was dressed in pure white robes, blending into the endless snow. Her long hair was the color of sunlight, her soulful eyes sparkled in the reflected light like a pair of sapphires. She was trying to keep up, but was always breathless. The long climb was taking a lot out of her. Once in a while, her companion would stop and wait for her to catch up, looking around for any signs of danger.

Priestess had gone through a bit of a growth spurt this autumn. It would probably be the last one in her life, but nonetheless she was pleased. She now reached up to a little bit higher than Goblin Slayer’s shoulder, whereas the first time they’d met she’d only been as high as the middle of his chest. Her bony frame had gained a thin layer of muscle, mostly visible on her slender thighs and shoulders. As mortified as she’d been to have to buy larger clothes, Goblin Slayer had assured her that she’s gained more stamina than before.

For this quest, he’d cautioned her to invest some gold into good-quality boots. The winter here was unforgiving, especially to those with cold feet. So here she was with brand new boots, white and fluffy like the snow underneath them. The merchant had told her they were made from the fur of a very rare white fox. And they matched well with her thick white cloak – a gift from the Mother Superior for her new promotion in rank.

At some point she’d asked Goblin Slayer why he hadn’t brought any warmer clothes with himself. Apart from the cape, he looked the same as always. “I’m used to the cold,” was all that he’d said, in one of his typical non-answers.

And speaking of the devil. He was waiting for her to catch up again, calm and patient as ever. But this time as she came near, he turned to look at her expectantly. “The map?” He requested, reaching out a gloved hand.

“Mm.” She rummaged into her bag. This morning they’d met with their quest giver. He was the chief of one of the villages who’d suffered from goblin attacks. There were five villages in total, one of which no longer existed, and this man was the chief of the Riverside Village. Once it had become clear that all five villages had been filing quests regarding the same goblin nest, the guild personnel had seen fit to unite them into a single quest with larger bounty. It was in that form that the quest had reach the frontier Guild.

Priestess passed along the map and rested while the party leader marked something on it with a piece of charcoal. The surrounding pine forest was truly beautiful, the air so pure and invigorating that it cleansed both body and spirit.

“The presence of the Earth Mother is strong in this land.” She murmured, feeling the energies of the place. They’d been walking for hours, yet every short break seemed to restore her stamina completely. Feeling suddenly inspired, she knelt down in the snow and offered a short prayer to the Earth Mother, humbly thanking her for her blessings.

Goblin Slayer was done with the map by now. Despite being stubbornly atheistic, he always let her in peace to do her thing, waiting patiently a short distance away. He was atheistic in the sense that he was perfectly aware of the existence of the gods and wanted absolutely _nothing_ to do with them. He couldn’t be bothered to worship beings that allowed goblins to destroy villages. He was even _less_ interested in following the forces of Chaos that gave life to goblins in the first place. And the gods themselves could, please and thank you, mind their own business and just let him be.

When Priestess rose up to her feet and straightened her garments, they went back on their trek. Higher and higher along the steep path, deeper into the woods. The day was short; the sun already starting to set. Soon it would be the goblins’ turn to roam and the two adventurers would be forced to retreat. With longer nights, the monsters were at great advantage.

They came out to a clearing. A solid wall of mountain rocks faced them up ahead.

“Goblin Slayer, sir…” Priestess warned.

“I see it.” He confirmed.

The entrance of the cave was well-concealed, with pine branches and snow piled up at the front. And there, unmistakable in the daylight, stood the short form of a goblin.

Without making a sound, Goblin Slayer lifted the bow and took aim.

His father had been a ranger, he’d once told her. Scouting and hunting was in his blood. He’d never had any talent to become a warrior, yet somehow life had forced the role on him.

With a quiet ‘twip’, the bowstring snapped back into place and the arrow was set free. The goblin guard never even knew what happened. Its small life ended quickly as the tip pierced its throat.

Goblin Slayer walked up to the body, inspecting it silently. It was well-fed, dressed in thick furs, probably from hibernating bears that the goblins had chased out of their caves. The blood was already freezing in the unforgiving winter chill, tainting the snow in eerie crimson shapes. He retrieved his arrow, then took out a plain linen bag. The goblins mustn’t know they’re here, at least not yet. The two of them were only scouting today. Carefully, he placed the body into the bag, then scooped up the bloodied snow along with it. Not a single mark must remain. It wouldn’t raise any suspicion if a bored guard were to wander away. But a dead one would immediately set the whole nest on high alert.

He checked the map again, making sure to mark the spot with a big, bold ‘X’, then picked up the bag. “Let’s go.” He nodded at Priestess. “This is the last one. We should head back to the village before it gets dark.”

Priestess didn’t need to be told twice. With the sun going down, cold was starting to settle in her frail shoulders.

Further ahead, they reached the riverside and followed it downstream. Goblin Slayer threw the bag into the deep water, which quickly carried it out of sight. From then on it was an easy trek down.

Gradually, Priestess allowed herself to let her guard down. They weren’t likely to encounter any goblin patrols so early in the evening, so far away from the nests. But there was something else that caught her attention.

“Sir, look!” She tried to whisper loudly and pointed up ahead. There, by a bush, was a bunny. Its white coat was completely undistinguishable from the snow, unless you looked really hard. The small animal sat back on its hind paws and started grooming itself like a cat.

Goblin Slayer let out a rumble of agreement and Priestess saw him shift in the periphery of her sight. “No, don’t!” She exclaimed as she realized he had his bow up and was taking aim again.

“It would make a fine meal.” He said calmly, focused straight ahead.

“Please!” She begged without an ounce of hesitation and hung on his arm, effectively ruining the shot. From so up close, she could hear him let out a small sigh. If praying could get her favors from the gods themselves, then what chance did _he_ stand?

Sometimes the girl could be too kind for her own good, he mused. But he never mistook it for a weakness. It was this quirk of personality that made her put up with someone like him. “Bean soup it is, then.” He conceded. Though he’d really been looking forward to some stew.

When Priestess beamed up at him with a brilliant smile, he somehow considered it worth it.

 

88888888

“You’re back.” The Village Chief said as he warily unlocked the door and welcomed the two inside his house. “Come on in, you must be cold.” It was past midnight, the whole village already dark and asleep, but he’d stayed awake to wait for them. The two chilled adventurers stepped in silently, shedding the snow from their boots and overcoats. Riverside Village was the smallest one, barely twenty houses in total, and had no tavern or inn nearby. It also happened to be located nearest to the caves. That’s why the Village Chief had offered to house Goblin Slayer and his party for the duration of their quest.

“Aren’t you going to take off your cloak?” Goblin Slayer asked his companion as he hung his own cape by the fireplace to dry.

“Maybe in a bit. I’m still very cold…” Priestess replied with clattering teeth.

“You two hungry?” Village Chief asked. “My wife went to bed already, but she left you some dinner. Help yourselves to whatever you like.” He waved them into the kitchen.

“Thank you so much!” Priestess said with a formal bow, then set about laying the table.

“We must discuss how much to pay you for the accommodations.” Goblin Slayer remarked, turning that faceless helmet of his to look at the older man.

Village Chief’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Those emerald ranked adventurers from before had been haughty noble kin, demanding to be served like kings and given everything for free. A different breed, indeed. He shook his head. “The only payment I demand is that you rid us of those damned goblins.”

“We _will_ kill the goblins either way.” Goblin Slayer corrected in that bland tone of his. It was chilling how a man could talk about slaughter as calmly as the weather. The Village Chief repressed a shudder trying to make its way down his spine. That man… there was something off about him. Yet there was no other choice but to place their hope in him.

“What _we_ meant to say” Priestess interjected as she poured still warm rabbit stew from the stove into two bowls, “is that we are very grateful for your hospitality. Isn’t that right, sir?”

“…Yes.” The silver rank conceded.

There was a bit of an awkward pause after that.

“So, how did it go?” The Village Chief decided to break it, hoping for some good news.

The soft-spoken warrior reached for his pouch and took out the wrinkled sheepskin map he’d received from the older man this very morning. He sat down at the table and carefully spread it out. “We’ve scouted the whole area; marked three goblin nests here, here and here.” He pointed with a gloved hand. The Village chief pulled another chair and took a seat at the head of the table in order to take a better look. “By my estimates, there are around two hundred and fifty of them. They have many shamans and hobs.”

“Hobs?” The older man asked. “What are those?”

“Goblins of high rank…” Goblin Slayer started lecturing as patiently as any other time. Priestess tuned it all out as she set the food on the table and sat by his side. Her teeth had finally stopped clattering, but now she felt so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. Would it be alright to skip dinner and go straight to bed, she wondered, as her head started leaning to the side until it pressed against his plated shoulder.

“You should eat. You’ll need your stamina for tomorrow.” He instructed, though made no attempt to shake her off.

“Mm, in a bit. I just need to catch my breath.” She said, then let the men keep talking.

“Their largest nest is over here; the other two are subservient to it. My guess is that a single leader is in control of all three and may be seeking even more area to take over. It is highly likely that underground tunnels have been dug to connect them, meaning that if one nest is attacked, the others will be quick to respond…”

The Village Chief scratched his balding head, confused by all the tactics and terminology. Yet he’d been the one to ask, so he had better listen. “So… what do you make of the situation? If you have to summarize it?”

Goblin Slayer was silent for a bit, thoughtful. “The goblins are well bred, well fed and well equipped. As far as goblin infestations go, everything that could go wrong has already happened.”

The Village Chief visibly paled at the news.

“For goodness sake, sir, have some tact.” Priestess mumbled against his shoulder.

“…It is the truth.”

“There is no dishonesty in softening your words a bit.” She stood straight to give him a reproachful stare, which he silently returned from the depths of that damned helmet.

“…”

“…”

“…I will try… to keep that in mind.” The silver rank sounded strained as he conceded.

The Village Chief rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming. “ _Can_ you handle this, or not? That’s all I’m asking. No need to sugar-coat anything, just tell me:  ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

“Yes.” The warrior said immediately.

“We’ve seen much worse than this.” Priestess assured with a wan smile. That didn’t sound at all reassuring.

“Good, that’s… that’s good.” The older man sighed. He’ll probably grow completely bald at this rate. “I’ve prepared the guest room for you. It’s a small house, so we only have one…” He eyed the two adventurers warily. Were those two married? Their interactions were strange and hard to read, he didn’t want to assume anything… Or was it considered taboo for adventurers to be romantically involved? It really wasn’t his place to ask. “Perhaps the young priestess might prefer to share a room with my daughter…?”

“It’s no bother at all.” The girl assured again, smiling kindly. “We’re used to camping out under the stars. Any room at all is a luxury, especially in weather like this.”

Goodness, those people. They really _are_ a different breed.  

“Before that.” Goblin Slayer interjected. “I have another request.”

“Oh?” The Village Chief asked, giving him a wary look.

“Is there a blacksmith or a carpenter in this village? One that would be willing to work overnight, for an appropriate compensation.”

The Village Chief lifted an eyebrow at that, but confirmed nonetheless. “I can arrange for one. What is it that you need?” At that, the younger man proceeded to list a large assortment of items, each more bizarre than the other. It ended with a shovel, of all things. The Village Chief’s other eyebrow found its way up, too. “…I’ll try to get you everything by morning.” He promised in a strained voice.

“I am grateful.” Goblin Slayer replied solemnly.

With that, the Village Chief bid them a good night and went out to get the errands done. Priestess cleaned the dishes once they were done with dinner, then the two of them headed to the guestroom. It was a plain room like any other in the house, but the fireplace was lit up, filling the space with blessed warmth and light. Priestess finally took off her white cloak and hung it. The two of them then took off their boots and made sure to leave them near the flames to dry overnight.

Goblin Slayer examined every exit in the room – two windows and one door – then took a spot from where he’d have a clear view of all of them. He plopped down on the floor, cross-legged, and leaned back against the wall nearest to the fireplace. Then he unhooked his item pouch, unrolled a tarp on the floor and started to lay out on it his large collection of tools. An alarming number of blades of all shapes and sizes were soon littering the floor. Each of them went through a careful inspection, then got sharpened and polished.

Priestess knew by now that this was a ritual he went through every single evening. She, herself, had learned early on the importance of having all of your items in good upkeep and easily accessible in a crisis. She sat down on the bed and took off her chain mail: _he_ might be able to put up with it at all times, but she couldn’t. Especially now, she could feel the metal seeping all the warmth out of her thin frame. Getting it off was a relief.

She observed him work for a bit, then decided she might as well check her items, too. Potions, ropes, food rations, herbs, bandages soon cluttered the whole bed. The room started to look like an armory. Everything seemed in order.

Priestess knew from experience that once this was done, Goblin Slayer would immediately nod off. It was one of his ‘special powers’ to be able to fall asleep anywhere, at any time, in any position at all. It never failed to amuse her. “Don’t you want the bed for a change?” She offered to switch places, even though it was pointless.

“No.” He said. “I’ll be getting up several times a night to patrol.”

“Need any help?”

“No.”

“Suit yourself.” Priestess replied with a wide yawn. She threw the thickest blanket at him, then happily burrowed herself into the rest. The last thing she remembered that night was her cheek hitting the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

It was still dark outside, though the noises coming from the streets indicated it was morning. Priestess sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep off her eyes. The fire in the hearth had burned out at some point, leaving the room cold.

But that wasn’t unusual. The only odd thing that caught her attention was that Goblin Slayer was still sound asleep, in the exact spot she’d left him last night. He was usually the first one up at dawn, going out to patrol.

“Sir?” She called out. When no answer followed, she got out of bed and headed towards him; light steps barely making a sound as her white socks touched the floorboard. “Sir, are you alright?” She asked again, laying a hand on his plated shoulder and giving it a tentative nudge.

His head immediately shot up at that. “I’ve overslept…” He rumbled. “Missed my patrols…” Then he was on his feet, grabbing his boots and storming out of the room with a violent stride.

The girl sighed. He always gets grouchy whenever one of his routines is disrupted. Oh well, at least she had the room to herself for a while. She used the privacy to straighten out her clothes and groom her hair a bit.

Sometime later, they met in the kitchen, where the Village Chief’s wife – an overly cheerful and slightly plump woman – was fixing up breakfast. Goblin Slayer was sitting at the table and brooding over the map again, holding a piece of charcoal in a gloved hand and absently tapping it on the table’s surface once in a while.

“Do you need any help with that?” Priestess asked the older woman shyly.

“No, I’ve got it handled.” The Village Chief’s wife answered with a smile. “You could make some tea for everyone, if you’d like.”

The two of them chatted amiably while Priestess busied herself with pouring fresh water in the teapot and preparing the herbs. The Village Chief had four children – three sons and a daughter. Two of the boys were already adults and living on their own. The eldest was a merchant who got married in the City. The second-born lived in the Riverside Village and was the blacksmith who’s preparing all the tools that Goblin Slayer had commissioned last night. The third one was only twelve years old, but “a good boy and very bright for his age”. Priestess nodded along with a genuine smile.

“I really wanted a daughter, though.” The housewife chuckled to herself. “It was a bit late, but we gave it another try.” The girl was their youngest, at the tender age of five. The little one was in the room with them, fussing around while waiting for the breakfast to be ready, giving the two ‘guests’ shy and suspicious looks.

Priestess poured the tea into four cups and made sure to give one to Goblin Slayer, whose only acknowledgement was a noncommittal grunt.

“Do you ever take your helmet off?” The little girl asked out of nowhere, finally finding her courage to speak.

Goblin Slayer stiffened. His head turned to face the girl fully, but it took him unnaturally long time to respond. “Sometimes.”

“But how do you eat?” The child insisted in a somewhat suspicious tone.

“I pull the visor up a bit.” He explained calmly and demonstrated by gulping down the steaming hot tea. Considering the conversation over, his full attention focused back to the map.

There were about ten seconds of silence, then the toddler interrupted it again. “So you have a mouth in there?”

“…Yes?” The silver rank replied, flustered.

Priestess was biting her lip to keep from smiling at his expense as she gave a cup of tea to the little girl.

“Whoa! You’re so pretty!” The child exclaimed at her, which caused her to blush. Then her attention snapped back to Goblin Slayer. “Are you a ghoul?”

The man flinched, clearly getting annoyed at the constant interruptions, yet his tone was completely level when he asked: “…A what?”

“A ghoul!” The girl chirped, as if that explained everything. “My mom reads me stories about them. They’re supposed to be _really_ scary.”

“………” He glanced at Priestess, silently pleading for an intervention.

The cleric was trying so hard not to laugh that her eyes were starting to water. For the two years that she’d known him, he’d gone a long way in re-learning how to interact with people. But this was a social situation he had no script for and it was equal parts amusing and sad to watch him revert back to the usual one-word answers.

“…No.” He finally replied, after realizing that no help whatsoever would be coming from his party member.

“Aw! But I’ve always wanted to see one!” The girl whined.

“…Sorry to disappoint.”

At that, Priestess finally burst into giggles.

The Village Chief’s wife clucked her tongue in disapproval, while still puttering around the kitchen. “Now, now, sweetie. Quit bothering our guests.”

“Sooo~rry.” The girl sung, then obediently shut up.

Last night, the Village Chief’s wife had felt deeply distressed about having mercenaries stay at her house. But after seeing this interaction… Frankly, she’d been expecting anything but _this_. This doe-eyed priestess and a strangely soft-spoken warrior. How old was he, really, underneath all that metal and grime? Any reasonable person would’ve lost all patience by now and snapped at the little girl. Yet the silver tag around his neck and the sheer amount of weaponry he carried spoke of fearsome skills.

“Goblin Slayer, I’d like to ask you something, if you don’t mind.” Their hostess started. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-two.” He replied mechanically.

“So young, yet already silver ranked…” She mused. Her oldest son, the merchant, was twenty-five. She tried to imagine him going out to hunt goblins in the middle of the winter, all alone, and felt a painful pang in her heart.

“I started out young.” Goblin Slayer explained.

The housewife nodded at that. “And you, Priestess?” She turned to the younger woman.

“I just turned seventeen this winter.”

“Aren’t your families worried about you?” The Village Chief’s wife wondered, to which Priestess answered with a wan smile.

“I’ve been an orphan for my whole life. But Mother Superior says she worries about my career choices often enough.” She let out a self-depreciating chuckle. “And Goblin Slayer… well, he’s pretty much the same.”

The housewife mulled that over for a while. She finished up with the cooking, wiped the counter clean and then deposited two huge plates of food in front of the adventurers. “Eat up, kids.” She said. Because they really felt like kids to someone like her. “You’ll be needing lots of energy for all that goblin slaying.” She grinned at them.

“What are those called?” Priestess asked, curious.

“Haven’t you ever had pancakes before?” The older woman clucked her tongue again. “You’re supposed to pour some of the jam on them, then roll them in a bun. Here, I’ll show you…”

“Oh! They taste wonderful!” Priestess beamed after the first bite. “I’ll definitely try making some when we get back home.”

The Village Chief’s wife chuckled at her enthusiasm, then proceeded to list off the ingredients.

 

88888888

 

He called it ‘landscaping’.

However, anyone even remotely familiar with Goblin Slayer knew that it had absolutely _nothing_ to do with planting flowers.

Such an innocent and unassuming word for such a gruesome occupation.

He’d been at it for hours: setting up traps of all shapes and sizes, digging up ditches, planting explosives, positioning ‘triggers’ that would cause poisoned darts to launch themselves at any unfortunate soul passing through. His idea was to close off all of the main paths downhill leading to the villages and thus isolate the goblins in their territory.

In the meantime, Priestess was on the lookout for any danger. Bored, freezing her toes off and feeling completely useless. She tried to push the unproductive feeling down. Right now things were calm, but experience told her they weren’t going to stay that way for too long. Goblin Slayer was counting on her to be the first one to react at any sign of danger and cast ‘Protection’, so he could focus on his part of the job.

“You know,” she said without looking at him, eyes constantly skimming over the pine forest around them, “things are going to be far more difficult without the rest of our party. Don’t you think?”

He mulled that over for a bit, then replied coolly: “Yes and no.”

“Mm? How so?” Priestess asked, puzzled.

“…The archer isn’t here.”

“…”

For a few long moments, the two of them looked at each-other blankly. Then the girl’s face paled as realization suddenly hit. No High Elf Archer meant that all of the ‘no fire’, ‘no water’, ‘no poison’, ‘no explosions’, etc. rules were off. Goblin Slayer let out one of his rarely-witnessed, raspy chuckles after seeing her expression.

“You know, sir, when you first started to develop a sense of humor, I really thought it was a good thing.” The cleric said with a rueful smile. “However… most things that happen to amuse you are slightly terrifying.”

“…Sorry.” The warrior said. He didn’t sound much like it.

Priestess sighed. “Don’t apologize if you don’t mean it.”

“Erk…”

They lapsed into companionable silence for a while. He kept on working, whereas Priestess was left to her own thoughts and boredom.

Their party members had split up, though not for lack of desire to work together. Lizard Priest had been the first one to leave Frontier Town at the start of winter. He reluctantly confessed that his cold-blooded nature made his health decline during the snowy weather. So he’d opted to migrate south for the next few months, back to his tropical homeland, with the solemn promise to return at first spring.

Only a couple of weeks later, Dwarf Shaman had received a letter from his family, bearing good news. Fate had decided to gift him with _yet another_ grandchild. There had been a huge celebration at the Guild to honor the occasion, then on the following morning the still happily drunk ‘grandpa’ had departed for his hometown, where he intended to spend the New Year holidays.

And without those two… well, High Elf Archer had quickly grown bored. Her whimsical nature had sent her seeking adventures elsewhere, at least for the time being. Though they were pretty sure she’d be back with the first warm winds of spring.

So that only left the two of them. The quietest members of the party, just like in the good old goblin-hunting days.  It felt both familiar and somehow different at the same time. Guess getting to know a person over the course of two years was bound to make a difference. For example, she kept calling him ‘sir’, even though he wasn’t actively mentoring her anymore. She was just so used to it by now that calling him anything else felt awkward. Though knowing him, he probably wouldn’t care either way.

At some point she noticed that he’d stopped moving. He’d stuck the shovel into the frozen ground and was leaning a little on it, probably mulling over what remains to get done.

“Do you need to rest?” Priestess inquired.

“Yeah.” She threw him the sheepskin pouch of diluted wine and he promptly caught it, then pulled the helm’s visor up a bit and took a swig. The alcohol served well to keep one warm in such weather. Swiftly, he leapt out of the half-finished trap and walked back to Priestess in a brisk stride. “Did you mark this one?” He asked.

“Oh. I almost forgot.” The girl pulled out the map and drew a small circle on their current spot. It would be idiotic to forget the locations of _their own_ traps.

They decided on a quick lunch. Nothing fancy, just stuff from their travel rations – bread, cheese, smoked bacon, dried plums. The sun was slowly creeping downwards, even though it was still early afternoon. Some misguided owl hooted in the distance. There was no other sound around them, apart from the pine trees rustling in the wind.

She saw him freeze up for a moment, head tilted to the side a bit – the telltale sign that he was thinking of something and trying to formulate the words to explain it. The cleric waited patiently, pretending not to notice. In the end, she wasn’t disappointed.

“I… had a dream last night.” He finally stated.

“Oh? Is that so?” Priestess prompted with a soft smile. It was so rare that he’d initiate a conversation. And that it had nothing to do with _goblins_ was a real treat.

“Yeah.” He paused for a bit. “I tend to sleep very lightly and almost never dream. It was… strange.”

“It wasn’t about goblins?” The girl ventured a guess.

“No.” He shook his head. “It was about a woman.”

“Umm.” Priestess’ eyebrows went up a bit. “With all due respect, sir… perhaps you shouldn’t be telling me about _that_ kind of dreams.” She teased with a small smile.

“Erk…” He clammed up. The conversation was over before it begun.

Priestess immediately felt bad. It was so rare that he’d speak at all, let alone about something so personal. And to top it off, he had no clue why she’d just told him off. “I’m sorry.” She quickly corrected herself. “I was just teasing. You can tell me about it, if you’d like.”

“Alright.” He said. “She had a very strange weapon with her. Looked like a spear, but the tip was longer and curved in a crescent shape. I assume this might be some kind of a religious symbol.”

Priestess blinked. That… was a lot of information to take in all of a sudden. And, surprisingly, the description was _very_ familiar and entirely in her line of work. Still, she had to make sure. “Can you describe the shaft of this weapon?”

“Yes.” He tilted his head again. “Thin, made of wood, with steel incrustations. Artistically crafted with floral motives: vines, leaves, fruits – that kind of things.”

Priestess’s eyes went wide. Could it be…? “What was the blade like?” She prompted.

A gloved finger drew two-thirds of a circle in the snow. “It was about this big.” He supplied. Priestess remained silent for an unnaturally long period of time, giving him a strange, searching look. “What?” He ended up asking.

“Goblin Slayer, “the girl started carefully, “have you ever been to the temple of the Earth Mother?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “I received healing there once.”

“So you’ve seen the statues of her? Those at the entry hall? Depicting her in full size?” Priestess was clearly going somewhere with all of this.

He mulled that over for a while. “Probably.” He conceded. “If I have, I probably didn’t care enough to remember them.”

“So you’re _absolutely_ sure you don’t remember this symbol from anywhere else?”

“Yes. Get to the point.” He said impatiently.

The cleric sighed. “What you’re describing is the symbolic regalia of the Earth Mother. It is a scepter, though it does look a bit like a spear. The crescent-shaped blade is actually a sickle. The Earth Mother is the goddess of fertility and the harvest - the beginning and the end of all life.”

“Huh. I didn’t know any of that.” Goblin Slayer remarked.

“How could you _not_ know it? This symbol is all over Frontier Town!”

The man just shrugged.

“Sir, this dream could mean something important!” Priestess was starting to get agitated. “The Earth Mother is known to sometimes give handouts in the form of healing or prophetic visions. Is there anything else you remember?”

“Not much. It was all a blur.”

“How did she look like? The Earth Mother is… I mean, witnesses say that she always looks and acts maternal. How were you sure this person was even a woman if you couldn't see anything...?” Priestess said, sounding more and more worried.

“The voice.” Her party leader replied. “She kept whispering something. I couldn’t make out the words, or maybe don’t remember them, but her voice sounded just like my sister. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel alarmed.”

“Did you speak with her?”

“Yes.” A pause. “I warned her to go home. That goblins try to kidnap women who walk alone at night.”

Priestess smiled at him, despite everything. “And what did she say?”

“…I’m not sure. She wanted me to go somewhere. To do something for her. Was real insistent about it…”

“And then what?” His companion asked.

“I told her that I cannot do it. Because I haven’t killed all the goblins yet.”

Not so surprised, the cleric let out a mirthless chuckle. Leave it to Goblin Slayer to tell off a demon lord or a god of… well, anything.

They lapsed into a long silence after that. Priestess felt a knot of anxiety form in her stomach. “I don’t like this.” She admitted. “I don’t like it at all.” Biting her lower lip, she added: “If we were in the Frontier Town right now, I’d be dragging you over to Mother Superior to perform an exorcism or something…”

“Out of the question.” Goblin Slayer sounded exasperated. He already regretted telling her all of this.

“I know you won’t take it seriously no matter what I say.” Priestess stated with a self-depreciating smile. “But please, take _this_ with you.” Reaching around her neck, she unclasped a small necklace. It looked like a sapphire gem, incrusted with silver flowers and vines. “It is a protection amulet that used to belong to the previous abbess of the temple. Make sure to keep it with you at all times.”

“Alright.” The party leader humored her, taking the amulet and dropping it inside the seemingly endless depths of his item pouch.

Later that night, as the two of them returned to the Village Chief’s house, Priestess spent a long time praying. She decided to do it properly this time, with a complete ritual. She lit up candles and ordered them in the necessary forms; burned thyme and herbs to fill the air with their scent, then doused them in wine. She felt all of her senses white out as a piece of her soul detached from the body in supplication to the goddess. The girl begged the Earth Mother for her blessings and offered humble apologies for any slight or insult they might have inadvertently inflicted upon the divine being.

Roughly an hour later as she came back to her senses, she noticed that at some point during the ritual Goblin Slayer had returned from his evening patrol and was looking at her oddly.

“Is all of this necessary?” He asked.

Still kneeling on the ground, Priestess gave him a sour look. “There is a slight chance that you’ve inflicted a grave insult upon one of the gods.”

“I don’t really care.” Goblin Slayer said frankly.

“And of course, it happens to be _the Earth Mother_ herself. The same one that grants me my miracles. Remember?”

“Oh.” He finally seemed to add two and two. “I see how this could end up being… problematic.”

 _“Is that so?”_ Priestess mocked him with one of his favorite impassive one-liners.

 “Do you still have your miracles or not?” Straight to the point, as usual.

“Well. You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow and see.” Priestess said, still feeling a bit upset. Sometimes he was just too dense for his own good.


	4. Chapter 4

The traps reaped a great reward overnight.

Both adventurers got up early in the morning, long before dawn, and started on the hour long climb up to the caves. Along the way they made sure to check on every trap and reset it, if need be. Their enemy was vast in numbers, so they had to be weeded out a bit before Goblin Slayer could form a plan to attack one of the nests. Otherwise they’d be overwhelmed by the swarm.

He inspected a goblin’s corpse found in one of the traps, pushing it on its back with the heel of his boot. Those poison darts sure got the job done. When he gets back to the Frontier Guild, he’d be sure to tell the blacksmith how pleased he is. Crouching down, he took out a knife and cut off one of the creature’s pointy ears, then stored it in a bag.

“What are you doing?”  Priestess asked. She was supposed to be keeping a lookout, but once again boredom took the better of her.

“The Village Chief is getting impatient.”

That… didn’t really answer anything, at least at first thought. But Priestess was used to interacting with him and by now had learned to try and think a few steps ahead. Somehow, she thought she understood.

Goblin Slayer gathered the darts and made sure to douse their tips in fresh poison, then went about resetting the trap. He’d left his sword behind in the snow, as it only served to hinder his movements while working. Curious, Priestess picked it up. It wasn’t all that heavy. Perhaps she might even be able to swing it around without falling face-first into the snow. She was just about to try it when...

“Put that down,” Goblin Slayer monotoned without even turning back.

“Eeeep!” Priestess squeaked, dropping the blade into the thick snow and almost cutting her foot. “I’m really really sorry, I was just…”

“…you’ll scare away all the goblins.” He finished the sentence, then kept on tightening the ropes that triggered the trap’s mechanism.

Was he… teasing her? The girl blinked in confusion. _That_ was new. Perhaps it was something worth encouraging. She straightened her hair a bit and said: “I’ll have you know that I’m a _very_ _fearsome_ steel-ranked adventurer.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is so.” She smiled. “Those goblins had better run!”

“It would be a pain to have to chase them down, though.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let any of them escape.” She gave a playful wink.

“I see. I’ll hold you to that tomorrow, when we assault the first nest.”

“Erk.” Priestess gulped. She honestly couldn’t tell if he was still joking or not. That sense of humor needed some getting used to. Circumstances called for a forceful change of topic: “Shouldn’t we hide the body?” She asked, gesturing at the dead goblin.

“No.” The helm shook once, from left to right. “It will serve as bait. The scent of blood draws in other scouts and they’ll also fall for the same trap.”

“Ah.” Priestess nodded in understanding.

And so they went on, checking up on every trap, counting the bodies, then resetting. A standard pit with spikes on the bottom had managed to catch three of the critters. Goblin Slayer carefully lowered himself down. He freed the spikes from the corpses imbedded on them, then set about cutting off the left ear of each one, just as he’d done with all the rest. Preoccupied with this task, he couldn’t see what was going on above ground. The only warning that something was amiss came from Priestess’s voice ringing out like a bell: _“Protection!”_

Only a second later, arrows started raining down on them both, but an invisible barrier glimmered in the crisp winter air and kept them away. Goblin Slayer leapt out of the ditch and stood by his party member’s side. A gang of the green menaces was rushing at them, armed with pickaxes and knives. Those weren’t real weapons, just tools stolen from the villagers. “Eight melees…” He counted. The arrows kept coming, but their source was hidden in the bushes way back. “Five…, no, six archers….” He murmured. But there was something more than that. Among the garbled battle screams, there was also the unmistakable sound of goblin speech, spoken loudly and with intent. “Shamans! They’re chanting!” He warned Priestess. A hit from several spellcasters at once could be enough to shatter the barrier.

 _“Oh Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, grant us peace to accept all things! Silence!”_ Priestess was faster, cutting off whatever spells they’d been preparing.

Goblin Slayer checked his sword, the fastenings of his shield and the item pouch at his back. Everything seemed in order. He took out a stack of throwing knives and shuffled them a bit like playing cards. In a blink, one of them was sent flying, then another and another. Each of them ended up imbedded in a shaman’s skull. He’d grown rather fond of those southern-style throwing knives. Enough to buy and maintain a whole set, which was a shameful overindulgence to someone like him. That blacksmith at the Guild sure knew how to tempt a customer.

Turning to Priestess, he asked: “Can you hold them off?”

“Yes sir!” The girl yelled back.

He leapt past the protective barrier without another word. The enemies’ front guard tried to tackle him, but he fought his way through, bashing a goblin’s face in with his shield. The critter died instantly, but he ignored it, heading straight for the hapless archers. Sword out, he hacked and slashed at them like a berserker.

One would think that the rest of the goblins would come and help their comrades. But goblins were goblins. Why should they risk their lives and fight against an angry, aggressive warrior when they could go for the girl? She was standing right there, defenseless. They’d rough her up a bit, make her scream, and then the foolish male would come back to save her. They’d use her as a meat shield, then the fool would go down easily.

That’s what the monsters were thinking, at least, until they came up to an invisible wall. Priestess tried to keep her expression carefully blank as she stared them down. Showing any ounce of fear would only serve to encourage the creatures. Confused, they stumbled back for a bit, then let out shrill howls of anger for not getting their way. _Stupid, hated adventurers! Just roll over and die!_

Priestess watched her party leader as he made quick work of dispatching the more dangerous back row. His fighting style seemed chaotic, relying on speed, agility and critical hits. Every single move was planned, though, and never missed its mark. It was an unusual style for a warrior, but it somehow worked for him. Trained muscles rippled under leather and mail, throwing hit after hit, and his well-toned back twisted fluently with every move. It made for an oddly appealing sight.

The barrier started to crack, drawing Priestess’s attention back to her current predicament. The enraged goblins were clawing at it, slowly wearing it down. “Oh no, you don’t. _Protection!_ ” She said, replacing the miracle with a fresh one. Her senses whited out for a moment as a great strain was put on her soul. She gripped her staff tightly and leaned on it like a crutch when her knees threatened to give out.

The goblins were relentless. She needed to buy him a little more time, somehow. She trusted him to come back and help her if the shield broke, but at the same time _he_ had to be able to trust _her_ to use the miracles effectively.

Strengthening her resolve, she hit one of the goblins on the head with the butt of her staff. It tumbled down to the ground, unconscious. That left six of them, who leapt back, startled, hissing at her angrily. All goblins were cowards. If they weren’t so sure of their numbers, they wouldn’t attack at all.

“Eleven.” A monotone voice announced from behind the monsters’ backs. And suddenly, the goblins found themselves surrounded by the two humans. One of them screeched in fear and tried to run away, but Goblin Slayer threw his sword and pinned it down. It died instantly. “Five left.”

Howling, with yellow eyes burning with hatred, they all leapt at him at once. One of them received a knife in its throat, another got bashed with the shield. However, Priestess noticed a third one sneaking around to pounce on his back. Without thinking, she moved slightly, readjusting the barrier and trapping the goblin on _her_ side. She could ward it off with her staff while her party leader took care of the remaining two.

However, the last of her strength exhausted itself with that effort. The exertion of casting too many miracles in a row caught up with her. A heavy weight seemed to settle on her head and shoulders. As she leaned on her staff, all of her senses whited out.

 

88888888

 

She had no idea how long had passed by the time she came to. It could’ve been an hour, or just a few seconds. The first sense that returned to her was scent, warning her of a mixed smell of iron, waxed leather and blood. The second thing to reach her awareness was that she was still standing up, somehow. Then sight came back and she noticed plated armor and chainmail right in her face.

The only thing keeping her upright ended up being Goblin Slayer’s gloved hand wrapped firmly around her upper arm. She was leaning on him a little. From so up close, she could hear his quickened breathing.

“You alright?” He rasped, still a bit breathless from the fight.

“Yeah.” She replied in a weak whisper. “I just used up all of my miracles in a roll.” She found her footing and straightened up fully, but for some reason he kept gripping her upper arm.

“You’re injured.” He informed her flatly.

“Huh?” Looking down, she noticed a bleeding gash on her lower arm; the same one he was holding. “I don’t feel anything…”

“It will come.” He replied in a soft voice. He rummaged in her bag until he found a healing potion, then popped it open and passed it to her. She gulped it down without complaint. “Drink.” He ordered, giving her his waterskin, too. She blushed. For some reason, she’d always been skittish about drinking from his stuff. Still, she complied, taking a few sips. Then he took out some herbs and bandages and started applying them to the wound. “What you did was foolish.” He chided.

“Huh?” She said eloquently. Oh. That goblin who was trying to sneak up from behind. She fainted before she could hit it with her staff… “But… I was trying to protect you…”

“You should’ve put priority on protecting yourself.” He tightened the bandages around her arm a bit harshly.

“Oww! That hurts!” She mewled and her eyes teared up a little.

“It’s supposed to be tight to stop the bleeding. There’s no other way.” He said, brooking no argument.

“Why are you mad at me?! I was doing my best to help!”  The girl whimpered.

“You shouldn’t have. You were reaching a state of overcast and left yourself exposed. That’s a rookie mistake.”

“But…”

“You need to be more aware of your strengths and weaknesses.” He lectured on. “I have quick reflexes and full body armor. You don’t.”

Priestess sniffled and looked down, feeling chided like an ignorant child again. Just when she was starting to think she was past that stage…

“I’m not trying to put you down. I’m just explaining our respective roles in a team.” The party leader went on. “You’re the team’s healer and disabler; I’m not. If you get hurt, there will be absolutely _nothing_ I can do for you. Anything worse than a cut and you’ll be on your own.”

That made sense, Priestess thought. Still, it stung badly to be lectured on the basics once again.

Goblin Slayer let her rest for a while as he retrieved his throwing knives, inspected all the bodies one last time, then threw them in the ditch. After that, he covered up the hole in the ground with a tarp and concealed it with snow and moss. This way the trap was indistinguishable from the forest ground around it. “We should go. We caused a lot of commotion here. Sooner or later, others will come to investigate.” Then he set off in his usual, violent stride.

Once he’d made a few steps and Priestess still wasn’t following, his helmed head turned halfway back. “…Don’t pout. I’m not angry.” He said in a somewhat soothing voice, before setting off again.

The girl startled out of her pity-party. Gosh, was she really that obvious? She really needed to get a grip.

“Yes, sir!” Her voice rung out, then she pattered after him like a tiny bird.

 

88888888

 

The Village Chief was still up and waiting for them as they returned late that night. “So? How did it go?”  He asked anxiously.

“There were goblins.” Was the not so unexpected reply.

“Did you kill them all?”

“Not yet. There’s still more.”

The Village Chief seemed displeased at that. “How long is this going to take?!” He demanded. “It’s been days already. I thought you were supposed to be some sort of experts!”

“With all due respect, sir, there’s a procedure to follow.” Priestess interjected in a pacifying voice. “There are hundreds of them to deal with and it will take time…”

“We don’t have any time!” The man yelled out of nowhere. “What if they attack us, like they did with that other village?! They destroy everything and steal our livestock! They’ll kill us all! Don’t you get it? We have nowhere else to go!” He raged all of his fears and frustration at the two soft-spoken adventurers. There was no clue as to what the helmeted one was thinking, but the Priestess… She just kept gazing at him with her doe eyes and a wan smile, looking sympathetic. “The Guild promised us help! If you’re not competent enough, then have it send someone el…”

His rant got harshly interrupted when Goblin Slayer tossed a bag of _something_ on the kitchen counter, right underneath the older man’s nose. “…What the hell is _this_ supposed to be?” The Village Chief asked, bewildered.

“Results,” was the only word that came out of the dark helmet.

Stunned into silence, the balding man opened the bag. There were a whole lot of things inside. He took one out to inspect it under the dim light of a lamp. Small, triangular, leathery and green. What the hell was that thing…? “A goblin ear??!” He exclaimed.

“Fifty-two of them. Feel free to count if you don’t believe me.” Goblin Slayer said coolly.

Face pale, the Village Chief glanced at Priestess. Usually, she’d interfere whenever her boss does something so harsh, but right now she was silent, with a compassionate and somewhat knowing smile. He realized that even though she seemed like the more mellow and agreeable one, the girl stood behind the silver rank’s every action and word.

Fifty-two? The adventurers had managed to murder fifty-two of them critters in a single day?! How?! It turns out that silver tag around the man’s neck really is worth a lot. This was the first sign of hope for their villages, even if it was a gruesome one. Sometimes, the cure is worse than the disease. “Alright…” He nodded nervously and gulped. “That’s… that’s certainly something. You can have that back now…” He tried pushing the bloodied bag towards Goblin Slayer, but the armored man simply shook his head.

“It has served its purpose. Dispose of it as you see fit.”

“Right…” The Village Chief took the bag with a mix of terror and revulsion, then headed out of the room, feeling weak in the knees. “I think I should lay down for a bit…” He said wearily.

“One more thing, sir.” Priestess stopped him. “It might be redundant at this point, but still…” The girl bit her lower lip as she contemplated something. “Please, warn people not to go up into the mountain. And stay off the paths. We’ve set up traps everywhere. There’s no way to guarantee anyone’s safety.”

“Right, of course… I can do that.” Had it been possible, the Village Chief would’ve gone even paler. “You two have a good night now.” He excused himself, then nearly ran out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

“Have you had any more strange dreams?” Priestess asked out of the blue while the two of them were enjoying a light lunch. They’d spent the whole morning checking up on the traps again. Their catch was smaller this time. It was inevitable that the goblins would find out about them sooner or later.

“No.” Goblin Slayer retorted while chewing on a dried plum. After a short, thoughtful pause, he corrected: “…Yes.”

“What happened??” Priestess immediately straightened at attention.

“It wasn’t relevant.” He brushed her off. Considering the conversation over, he bit into another plum. A few minutes of chewing in silence passed, before he caught the tension hanging in the air. Turning back to Priestess, he saw her staring up at him with bright blue eyes, overflowing with expectation.

“……?” He tilted his head.

“……!” She worried her lower lip.

A sigh escaped him. She wasn’t about to let that go anytime soon, was she? It was a mistake to tell her in the first place.

He looked up at the sky for a while, as if searching for some kind of inspiration. “I dreamt about my sister.” He finally admitted. “She looked… happy. For some reason, she was shorter than me, which didn’t feel right. Can’t remember what she was saying, but she reached up and touched my hair, then smiled.”

He never noticed how Priestess’s eyes filled with compassion. “It must’ve been a very nice dream…” She managed to say.

Goblin Slayer shrugged and took another bite of the dried fruits. “I suppose so.”

Priestess looked away, so that he wouldn’t see her eyes fill with tears. Such haunting visions, especially for someone with a past like his. There must’ve been something more to them, some hidden meaning, but his damaged soul didn’t have the capacity to interpret them.

That morning, the cleric had discovered the gash on her arm completely healed. There wasn’t even a mark left behind, yet she was sure she hadn’t used a miracle. Perhaps the Earth Mother really _was_ giving them handouts in the form of healing? It was a comforting thought to have. Though with their luck, it would probably end up being some demon lord masquerading as the merciful goddess. With a freaking _army_ of goblins.

At least that sapphire amulet she’d given Goblin Slayer a couple of days ago would warn them if any demonic entities happen to be nearby.

“Are you done eating?” Goblin Slayer broke her out of those musings.

“Oh! Yeah.” She said, then the two of them packed their provisions.  On this day, they were about to assault one of the smaller nests closer to the edge of the forest. Goblin Slayer had spent the previous evening mixing charcoal dust with saltpeter and some other, foul-smelling powder. Priestess was tasked with carrying three bags of the volatile stuff in her item pouch.

They reached the location of the cave and double-checked it on the map. From their hiding spot behind a group of snow-covered evergreen bushes, they could see the entrance to the cave. Two goblin guards were standing before a gaping hole in the rocks, looking exhausted after a long, sleepless duty shift. Eyeing them carefully, Goblin Slayer drew out his throwing knives.

“GAH!”

“GARROUUUU!” The creatures gurgled as a windmill-shaped blade imbedded itself in each of their necks. They dropped dead instantly, unable to even call for help.

“The bags.” Goblin Slayer prompted Priestess.

“Right!” After some rummaging, she deposited the three pouches in his gloved hands.

“Keep a lookout.” He ordered, then hurried out of their hiding spot.

“Yes, yes.” Priestess sighed. It was against her belief to pillage items from dead bodies, though Goblin Slayer didn’t hold it against her. She waited patiently while he did his thing, inspecting every corpse and stealing whatever weapons could still be of use.

With that done, he moved away from the cave’s entrance, giving it a critical look. He counted the number of footprints going in and out of the nest; noted the amount of waste; glanced at what looks like torn pieces of cloth dropped to the side of the path. All of those marks were easy to notice on the snow-covered ground. Based on all of this, he expected to encounter around forty goblins living in the nest. And a hostage, too.

He cursed under his breath. He’d been planning to just blow up the whole cave and be done with it, but the presence of a captive complicated things. Although…

Turning back to the edge of the forest, he mentally calculated the distance; the likely patterns the goblins would move in to attack; any hidden passages for sneaking in or out… Perhaps the alchemist’s powder needn’t go to waste, after all.

He decided on three spots on the ground, then took out his sword and used it to dig up crude, shallow holes in the frozen earth. He put a bag of powder in each one and packed it tightly with earth, making sure that only a piece of something that looked like yarn was visible above ground.

With all of that done, he returned to where Priestess was hiding. He took off the quiver full of arrows from his back and passed it to her. “Wrap some bandages around the heads, then use a flint to light them up.” He ordered.

“Yessir!” The girl chirped back and got to work.

Goblin Slayer made sure to check all of his equipment – the straps on his armor and helmet, the sword and knives, the items in his pouch all got a thorough inspection. It was one of his pre-battle routines.

“Ready!” It wasn’t long before Priestess announced. She held four flaming arrows between the fingers of her left hand, fanned out and pointing down so that their shafts wouldn’t catch fire.

“Good.” He nodded. “I’ll smoke them out. Keep _‘Protection’_ at the ready, just in case.” With that warning, he fished out a round white object from the large item pouch at his lower back. A teargas bomb. It would be irritating enough to force all the goblins out of their nest, but still leave the hostage unharmed. He threw it into the mouth of the cave, from where they heard it shatter.

It wasn’t long before hideous screeching could be heard from the cave. Panicked pattering of small feet, snarls and shouts filled the silent forest with their cacophony. Flaming arrow nocked and ready, Goblin Slayer waited with bated breath. By his side, Priestess was already whispering her prayer.

And then the monsters appeared at the gaping maw of the cave. They started pouring out like a tidal wave of polluted water; numerous, angry, and hell-bent on violence; screaming bloody murder loud enough for the gods to hear.

“Now?” Priestess asked anxiously, eyes wide with contained terror.

“Not yet…” The silver rank cautioned her. The string of the bow was pulled tight; arrow pointed and ready to hit its mark.

“Umm…” The girl looked back and forth between him in the goblins.

“Wait for it…” He said almost in a whisper, tension radiating from his shoulders.

Priestess bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. The monster’s screams got louder and louder the closer they came.

“Wait for it… Now!” He let the string go.

 _“Protection!”_ Priestess’s voice rung out.

The arrow launched off and imbedded itself into the ground, right in front of the first line of goblins. The monsters stumbled back, surprised, then let out cruel, sharp laughter. _Where do you think you’re aiming? Foolish adventurer. You’ll find your death, just like the rest._ In their moment of superiority, they failed to notice the short piece of yarn at their feet that suddenly caught on fire. They took a step forward, then another, and then…

“GYAAAAH!” A deafening explosion sounded from underneath them, throwing up chunks of earth. The goblins had no time to run, no way to react, it all happened so fast. One moment they were tasting victory, the other there was flaming heat and blinding pain surrounding everything around them in a hellish nightmare. A large part of their horde died instantly, in a single critical hit. The ones lucky enough to survive dashed left and right, searching for safety.

“No, you don’t.” Goblin Slayer said coldly and shot another arrow, which hit a second mine.

“Eeeeeeeeeep!” Priestess squeaked like a terrified mouse beside him, covering her ears as another blast scorched the air. Her protection miracle took the worst of the heat and blast wave. Though it didn’t do any good when goblin blood started raining down on them.

Another explosion followed as the second hotspot somehow managed to inflame the third, resulting in a chain reaction. Smoke and fire and bloodied goblin remains filled the air around them, then everything went blessedly quiet.

Once the flames had finally died down and the two adventurers could see again, there wasn’t much of the goblins left. Priestess was frozen in mid-cringe, equal parts disgusted and terrified and somehow disbelieving they were still alive. She blinked owlishly, while Goblin Slayer was his usual unflappable self.

“Efficient,” was all he said, nodding to himself. “The blast radius could use some readjustment.” Then he set off in his violent stride to inspect the battlefield.

Priestess watched him go with a dead-eyed look. “I wonder if I’m old enough to retire…” She mused out loud. “At this point, I’m sure my hair will go white prematurely. Then I’d go around town telling people that I’m sixty…”

Further away, the party leader clucked his tongue at something. He kept going back and forth among the carnage, muttering to himself. Probably trying to count the bodies, she realized. _Ho boy, tough luck with that._ It’s one of his post-battle routines and he always gets grouchy and restless when he can’t complete his routines. With a soul-weary sigh, Priestess pattered over to him. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“I can’t get the count right.” He sounded strained. There wasn’t a single goblin left in one piece. He’d even tried counting just the heads, but still…

Letting out another sigh, Priestess patted him on the shoulder in some misguided attempt at reassurance. “It’s alright, sir. I’m sure they’re all dead enough already.”

“Hrm,” he made a non-committal grunt. It couldn’t be helped. On the other hand, this was a rare flawless victory for them. Perhaps he should be grateful for that and try to find his peace. “We need to go inside and look for the hostage. Do you remember how to make gas masks?” He asked, back to business again.

The cleric nodded. Get clean towels, moisten them with some water and put a piece of charcoal in them. Easy enough. She made sure to prepare a couple of extras, in case there’s more than one captive.

With masks safely wrapped around their faces, they finally entered the cave. It was a fairly large nest, with many side tunnels and hidden chambers. Priestess cast _‘Holy Light’_ and maintained it as they rapidly cleared out the whole nest. The miracle served to grant them visibility without the need of torches, as well as blind any enemies. There were about a dozen goblins left inside, though they were either unconscious from the smoke or cowering youngsters. One was even trying to play dead, which was pathetic, since it hadn’t even been close to the battle to get hurt. Goblin Slayer disposed of them all in his usual, methodical way.

Luckily, the prisoner was found alive, even if suffering a coughing fit from the tear gas. Priestess hurried to assist her; she was good at that part. Goblin Slayer wandered off somewhere and she pointedly ignored him, well aware by now what the final ‘procedure’ of a goblin hunt entailed, after all the _adults_ were slain. Naïve or not, she didn’t want to put this burden on her soul.

Freshly healed and wrapped in a warm blanket, the goblin’s slave was carried out of the cave on Goblin Slayer’s back. The poor woman was too weak to stand on her own. Her eyes squinted against the winter sunlight, which seemed too harsh after days spent in darkness. She clung to the man’s shoulders weakly and let out a pained moan next to his ear. He ignored it, marching back into the safety of the woods while Priestess hurried after him. They needed to get back to civilization before sundown, as other goblins were likely to come and investigate. “Where do you live?” He asked the abused woman quietly.

She told him in a whisper. Her house was in the Forest Village, on the sunny southern slope of the mountain. There was a path nearby. That’s where she’d been caught by the goblins, while picking pine cones and firewood. Nodding, Goblin Slayer headed that way.

Her house was on the outskirts of the village. They found it easily. It was from this point forward that the hard part begins. Though the adventurers wouldn’t be the ones dealing with it – their work here was done. Night had already fallen when they knocked on the door. A young and wary looking man opened. It turns out the woman had a husband and a three-year-old son desperately hoping for her to come home. The man took her from Goblin Slayer’s hands, shocked into silence and shaking all over, while the toddler cried and screamed for the both of them. The grandparents happened to live next door and heard the commotion, so they, too, came out to see what was going on. The reunited family burst into hysterics in a mixture of happiness, relief and grief.

As for the two adventurers… they silently skulked away into the night without even waiting for a word of thanks. Exhausted after slaughtering another horde of goblins, feeling both physically and emotionally drained, they preferred to keep away from the emotional onslaught. Their battle was over for today. But for this family, a battle of a different kind was about to begin. One in which the adventurers won’t be taking part.

“You know,” Priestess noted, “it’s women like her that have the biggest chance to survive.” She smiled sadly, remembering many similar cases she’d dealt with at the Temple. Most of the goblins’ victims ended up there. Priestess had healed many such women and in some cases, even assisted with abortions. It was a topic she preferred to keep to herself. But women with families, with devoted husbands and young children of their own who need them… They had a reason to keep on fighting.

“Yeah,” was all Goblin Slayer said and that was the end of the topic. “It’s getting late. We should look for a place to spend the night. As far as I remember, this village is large enough to have a tavern.”

The tavern’s building was easy to tell apart. It was the largest one around and the only one still brightly lit up in the middle of the night. The heavy wooden doors squeaked as the two of them entered and the place welcomed them with its brightness and warmth. There weren’t many people inside – only one table was occupied with what seemed to be the village’s regular drunks.

They picked a small table aside from the other customers. Goblin Slayer removed the bow and quiver from his back and took off the thick leather cape, while Priestess removed her white fur coat. “Sit down and rest.” He instructed her and she gladly plopped down on one of the benches around the table. “I’ll go check if they have any rooms.” Then he headed to the bar counter where he flagged down a tired looking employee.

The woman gave him a curious once-over, her steel grey eyes lingering on the silver tag around his neck, then immediately flashed him a merchant’s smile. “An adventurer, huh? It’s not often that we see your kind around here. What can I do for you?”

“Do you have any spare rooms?” He asked in a monotone voice.

“You’re in luck. We still have plenty left. Though the market day is tomorrow; that’s when things get lively around here. The place gets full of merchants travelling from the City.” She brushed aside a strand of raven black hair as she took out a large, ancient looking book from underneath the counter and flipped through its yellowed pages. “How many do you need?”

Goblin Slayer glanced back at Priestess as he mulled it over. She’d probably appreciate the chance to wash up after the messy battle they’d been through. A happy Support made for easy hunting. Plus, they had plenty of gold. “Two.”

Humming, the Tavern Owner wrote it down in the book. A bag of coins was exchanged. “It’s pretty late and the cook already left.” She said. “But if you’d like some dinner, we still have fresh leftovers.”

“That will do.” He said, never one to be particular about food.

Meanwhile, Priestess was perusing the menu, when somebody took a seat beside her uninvited. She glanced, startled, at the unshaven middle-aged man who was grinning at her drunkenly. “Well hullo there,” he drawled, “what’s a pretty thing like ya doin’ sittin’ all alone?” He looked her up and down, obviously leering.

“Umm.” She squirmed a bit uncomfortably. “This seat’s taken.”

“Oh really? I don’t see anyone here. C’mon, don’t be so shy. Lemme buy ya a drink.” He said and boldly laid a hand on her thigh, as if intending to pin her down in her seat.

Priestess shuddered in revulsion at the unwanted touch. “I don’t drink.” She managed to say. What to do? She was exhausted and did not have the wits to deal with this. Wasn’t it enough that she had to put up with goblins leering at her all day long? If the guy gets too handsy, perhaps she could hit him in the crotch with the butt of her staff. That _always_ worked with goblins. But he wasn’t a goblin, was he? And as a healer from the Temple of the Earth Mother, she’d be honor-bound to heal him after that… so it would be no use at all. Just when she was about to open her mouth to try telling the man off, somebody else beat her to it:

“You. Will sit somewhere else.” Goblin Slayer monotoned, having reappeared beside the table with two large mugs of some kind of a hot beverage held in each hand. It wasn’t said as a threat, or even an order. Just stating the facts.

The Village Drunk whirled around, ready for a fight, but immediately cooled down upon seeing the adventurer. Maybe it was the blood-stained armor that cooled his enthusiasm, or the silver tag hanging around the other’s neck, or perhaps the glint of red from the depths of that steel helmet, but he didn’t need to be told twice. Like a dog with tail curled between its legs, the Village Drunk scurried away. Letting out an annoyed huff, Goblin Slayer sat down in his place and deposited the two mugs on the tabletop before them.

“Thanks…” Priestess murmured, blushing fiercely and feeling upset at her own inability to handle the situation. “You really didn’t need to…” She started, but Goblin Slayer simply shook his head, brushing off her gratitude.

“I have very little patience for people,” he said.

Perhaps he meant ‘people like _that_ ’? There was no way to know. For some reason, Priestess felt gentle warmth fill her chest. “That’s not true.” She countered with a fond smile. “You’re the most patient person I know.” Her small hand reached out and laid over his larger, gloved one. Could he even feel her touch, through all that thick leather and metal?

Slowly, as if not to scare her away, he turned his hand palm-side up and gave her slender fingers a gentle squeeze.

A sweet and alluring aroma wafted from the two steaming mugs before them, teasing the senses. Priestess glanced at them. They were filled with some sort of a dark liquid. “What is this?” She asked after a careful inspection.

“The Tavern Owner said it’s called _gluhwein_.” Goblin Slayer explained, carefully pronouncing the foreign word. “It’s made from heated wine, with honey, pepper and dried fruits.”

“Oh! It tastes lovely!” Priestess licked her lips like a kitten after the first sip. She wasn’t a fan of alcohol, but this was wonderful. “Do you think you could make more at home?”

“Yes.” He replied, already intending to. The combination of alcohol and heat was really something else. It served to quickly warm up and reinvigorate the body, especially after a whole day spent outside in such harsh, freezing weather. Only after a couple of sips, he could feel his cold, stiff muscles start to relax.

The moment got interrupted when a bag of gold was tossed on the table right in front of them. It was _his_ bag of gold. The one he’d used to pay for the rooms. “What’s wrong?” The armored man asked as he looked up at the Tavern Owner’s face.

“You’re the _Goblin Slayer_ , right?” Without waiting for confirmation, she turned to acknowledge the other party member. “And you must be the lovely Priestess! I’ve heard so much about you! And the dwarf and high elf and lizardman in your party.”

Priestess blushed. For once, she wanted to receive a compliment when she’s not covered from head to toe in mud, sweat and goblin blood.

“…Yes?” Goblin Slayer prompted.

“I just heard the good news.” She grinned at him. “That woman you rescued is my sister-in-law. The wife of my husband’s brother. That practically makes you family! So make yourselves at home; rooms and dinner are on the house.” Then the Tavern Owner deposited a tray filled with two bowls of steaming soup, garlic bread and a huge plateau of dried bacon and cheeses.

“There really is no need… for any of that…” Goblin Slayer responded after a short pause, sounding strained.

“Oh ho, not only a hero, but a humble one, too!” The Tavern Owner winked at Priestess. “You, milady, have found yourself a real catch.”

If it were possible, the girl blushed even more. “Um, thank you for everything,” She replied humbly, choosing to ignore the latter remark, “but we couldn’t possibly eat all of _this_.” She gestured at the table covered with food.

“You adventurers travel a lot, dont’cha? Just use it to restock your rations or whatever.” With a bright smile and another wink, the Tavern Owner sauntered away.

“…”

“…”

There was nothing else to do but dig in. The hot, delicious garlic bread was like a balm on the soul. There wasn’t anything like it at the taverns in the Frontier. After a few moments of silence, Goblin Slayer caught Priestess beaming at him. “What.” He asked flatly.

“Oh, nothing.” She giggled coquettishly and played with a strand of golden hair. “I was just thinking. You’ve gotten quite popular, haven’t you?”

“Hrm.”

“It seems to me that you even have fans.” She teased, grinning brightly.

“That doesn’t change anything.” He grumped.

“Maybe not. But it sure feels good to be appreciated once in a while. Doesn’t it?”

Goblin Slayer lapsed into silence at that. He took in a deep, world-weary sigh, then tilted his head upward, simply staring at the ceiling for a while. “…Don’t let it go to your head,” was all he said in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested in following this story, I should inform you that the next update might be a little late. I'm out of material for now and it will take me some time to type out the next chapter. Don't know how long it will take - could be a week, or maybe two. You should check for updates every Friday or Saturday :)


	6. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a small interlude while I'm working on the bigger stuff :)

_He’d checked and double checked every entrance in the tavern room, then made sure everything was locked up tight so that no goblins could sneak in._

_Yet somehow she’d found her way inside again._

_He felt her presence the moment she appeared – as he always slept with one eye open, nothing ever escaped his notice. She was standing in the middle of the room, gazing at him calmly with a smile and for some reason he did not feel alarmed._

_She looked just like he remembered her from his childhood – young and pretty, with light brown hair braided neatly and a homely apron tied around her waist, as if she’d just finished up cooking stew._

_She was speaking to him softly, her voice coming out in a hushed whisper, repeating the same thing over and over again like a soothing lullaby. And this time he could even make out the words:_

**_“I forgive you.”_ **

When his eyes snapped open, she was already gone.

Dawn was breaking and the street outside was filled with people.

Damn it. He’d overslept again and skipped all his patrols.

 

88888888

 

They left the Forest Village in the early morning and followed the forgotten paths leading higher up into the mountain. This way was unfamiliar to them, so they had to rely heavily on the map to navigate. A short while ago, this path used to lead to a smaller village. It was the fifth village of their quest givers, the nearest to the mountain peaks and the same one the goblins had managed to burn down. Nowadays, nobody ever traveled along that path anymore and the Highland Village laid forgotten underneath the snow.

However, this was the shortest way back to the caves where the goblins had made their nests, so the adventurers had no other choice but to take it.

It was a grueling two-hour-long climb along rocky mountain slopes and thick pine forests. And to top it off, the gentle sunshine that accompanied them on the days before was gone, hidden behind listless grey clouds. The murky light seeping through them did nothing to warm their bodies and left the world around them in gloomy semi-darkness. The cold air was harsh on both body and soul. Goblin Slayer made sure to pause every once in a while and take swigs of the diluted wine from his provisions, encouraging Priestess to do the same.

At some point, the endless pine trees gave way to a large clearing. There it was. The Highland Village. Or what was left of it, at least. The only part of it still standing was a small church of some unknown deity. Made of marble and granite, covered in sooth and ashes, the building had withstood the fire quite well, while the villagers’ plain wooden houses had burned to the ground and their bones were forever left buried beneath the snow.

In his mind, Goblin Slayer could still see the fires spreading, feel the scorching heat engulfing everything in sight, smell the blood and smoke suffocating his lungs, hear the screams of women and children and grown men alike, all twisted into distorted echoes from some distant place in hell.

“Sir? Are you okay?” Priestess’s gentle voice asked and he realized that he’d frozen up, just standing there in the middle of the clearing and staring off into nothingness. Her small hand was holding onto his much larger arm, anchoring him back to the here and now, as the girl tried to peer into his helmet.

“Yeah.” He managed to say.

“Would you… like me to say a prayer? In their honor?” She offered tentatively.

“…Yeah. You should do that.”

She curled a little closer to his arm in something resembling a hug, then started chanting in a clear voice. It was the official burial rite from the Temple of the Earth Mother. Her voice lilted like a lullaby and he chose to focus on it, instead of the crushing silence all around them.

He still remembered. Once the grief and the survivor’s guilt had passed, the only thing left behind had been hatred. A scorching, blinding hatred that burned down everything else in the world, leaving nothing but shades of grey. But it, too, had burned itself out, cooling down into something more solid and useful, just like a blade straight out of the forge.

The goblins all needed to die. There was no hesitance about it. No other monster was more vile than them; no god’s will was more important. His soul could find no peace until it was done.

Goblin Slayer knew he wasn't special. He hadn't deserved anymore than the others to be the one to survive. That's why he placed very little value on his own life. If he could give it up to bring back the dead, then he’d do it gladly. But he couldn’t give them life. All he could do was use their hard-earned coins to make sure the goblins meet their due justice. There was no other way he could honor the dead than this, no other solace he could offer their loved ones in this time of grief.

Once Priestess was done with her prayer, she glanced at him again.

“Ready to go?” She asked.

“…Yeah.”


	7. Chapter 7

Goblin Slayer noticed it as Priestess and he were going up into the mountain that morning. A cave near the river, previously uninhabited, now had dozens of goblin tracks going in and out. The goblins were looking for a place to expand their horde again and probably intended to convert this cave into another nest. He needed to stop them before they settle down.

The alchemist’s powder had proven very useful the previous day, so he’d made sure to prepare even more. The cave was precariously close to the steep and rocky river shore and according to the map, there were minor underground streams passing through its tunnels. This could easily work to their advantage.

He reached back into his item pouch and took out half a dozen bags of powder. Immune to Priestess’s sour look, he started picking out strategic places and carefully planting them into the frozen soil. The last two packs were put at the outer wall of the cave.

“Pull back.” He warned Priestess. “Cover your ears and keep your mouth open, or your eardrums might burst.” She didn’t need to be told twice. Once the girl was a safe distance away, Goblin Slayer crouched down to the nearest hotspot and struck a flint a few times until a spark ignited. He’d made the fuse a little longer this time, to give him enough time to retreat. Once it caught fire, he dashed back for the relative safety of the woods where Priestess was already waiting with her ears covered, as instructed.

The chain of explosions that followed was truly spectacular. It brought down the cave’s wall and eroded the steep river shore. Water burst into the air like a fountain, then settled down again like rain. Slowly, it found its way through the newly forged passage and into the cave. In no more than a couple of hours, the goblins’ new home would be completely flooded.

Panicked screeching could be heard from inside as the goblins were trying to figure out what’s going on. Goblin Slayer unsheathed his sword and stood a bit to the side of the entrance, waiting patiently out of sight. The first goblin that came out got a stab to the chest; the second one – a slit throat. The third one heard some sort of commotion going on outside and hesitated at the entrance, but a gloved hand reached inside and clamped around its neck, then bashed its head into the rocks. Number four and five got pickaxes thrown at their skulls.

Goblin Slayer strained his ears, but could hear no others coming. If they didn’t come out soon, they’d drown. But they’d end up dead either way, which was good enough for him.

All in all, the whole ordeal was over in less than an hour. Priestess didn’t even get to cast a single spell, which was a pretty rare event. The girl sighed. “Well, at least none of us got hurt. That’s a good thing.” Though she still felt a little sour about the explosions. Her party leader was starting to grow a bit too fond of them, if you asked her. “So what do we do next?”

“We need to move. The noise will attract others. It would be bad for us to get caught off-guard…”

He hardly finished the sentence when familiar growls and screeches could be heard from the forest around them. The two adventurers startled and looked around, searching for the source.

“GARRROOOUU!”

“GARGARGRRRR!”

Left, right and center – screams could be heard from the woods in all directions. The voices were too many to count and drawing nearer with every second. The goblins had been expecting them!

Panicked, Priestess looked at Goblin Slayer, awaiting instructions.

“Run.” He said, then broke into a mad dash deeper into the forest. The cleric scrambled after him. A pair of goblins leapt at him from the nearest bush, but he fought his way through them without even stopping, bashing one with his shield and slicing the other’s throat. Then leapt like a hare over their dead bodies and kept on running.

More goblins were hot on their trails. Panting, Priestess tried to keep up. Her long, slender legs carried her through the forest like a deer as she tried to keep sight of Goblin Slayer’s back, who easily outran her even with the heavy set of armor. Too-long strands of golden hair flowed behind her like a cape, getting stuck in the pine branches and bushes on the way. Next time they got back to the Frontier Town, she swore she was cutting it short.

Five days of wandering this mountain had left her well-informed of the area. She immediately recognized where Goblin Slayer was heading – it was the path that lead down to the Riverside Village. The one they’d marked with dozens of traps. It was a good thing he’d made her mark them all on the map, as at that moment it helped her remember each and every one clearly.

“Jump!” He yelled without looking back and did just that. And she knew without a doubt that disobeying the order would mean her death. He dropped down to the ground in a barrel roll and immediately was back on his feet. A moment later, Priestess plopped into the snow beside him with far less grace. The goblins shouted somewhere behind them, angry and menacing. Goblin Slayer grabbed the girl before she had a chance to collect herself and kept running, ignoring her indignant squeak. He dragged her behind a huge, age-old pine tree and shouted: “Get down!”

A moment later, all hell broke loose behind them as traps got triggered all over the place. Blades were sent flying, poison darts got imbedded into flesh, patches of earth dropped down underneath unlucky feet, sending dozens of goblins to their immediate death. An explosion got triggered somewhere, then another and another. Goblins screamed in pain and yelled, blaming each-other uselessly for this failure.

Only when everything quieted down did a helmed head peek around the thick tree. It seemed like the traps had done their job in reducing the number of goblins, as intended. But where was Priestess?

Looking around, he spotted a piece of white and blue cloth poking from a nearby bush. He walked over and reached inside the foliage where she was cowering, grabbing her by the upper arm and yanking her out of there.

“No more explosions!!!” The girl shouted at him. “No more!!! No no no no no no…”

“Yes.” He nodded. “We’re out of black powder for today.”

“What?! I can’t hear anything!!” She yelled in his face and rubbed her ears in a futile attempt to stop the ringing.

He held up his hand in the universal ‘stay’ gesture, then headed out to inspect the battlefield. All in all, it looked like a job well done. A surviving goblin was trying to crawl away. He crushed its skull with the heel of his boot.

The sky darkened all of a sudden and he glanced upward, where a dark cloud had moved over them, obscuring the sun. The first snowflakes started to fall, glimmering for a moment in the fading light. Perhaps a storm was coming. The days in this land were short enough as it is. If the weather started working against them, too, there’d be nothing they can do but retreat. Snow storms were bad enough as they are, but so high up in the mountains it would be plain suicide to be caught up in one.

Just when he was about to call it a day, he looked up ahead. And that’s when his blood went cold.

Two hobgoblins were grinning at him from across the small clearing in the woods. Only a moment later, another one appeared beside them. Three in total. But that wasn’t all. Something even larger was coming from the depths of the forest. A goblin champion. This group had let the smaller goblins run ahead and trigger all the traps, while they lingered behind in safety. And now there were no more traps to hide behind.

The bastards started laughing at him with cruel, sadistic smiles. _Filthy human, there’s nowhere left to run._

Goblin Slayer dropped into a defensive stance, short sword drawn and ready. What should he do? There’s too many of them. Where’s Priestess? He needed to warn her somehow, but in her current state, she wouldn’t hear anything, even if he yelled.

Perhaps he’d overdone the explosions just a bit.

Taking advantage of the goblins’ distracted gloating, he launched a throwing knife at the left one’s head. The hob managed to react in the last moment, deflecting it with a bracer. That made it stop laughing, at least. But as the hobgoblin blinked stupidly, a second knife imbedded itself into its throat. Fast as lightning, Goblin Slayer launched another one into its stomach, then a forth one to the crotch, just for good measure. Those bastards were tough, so he won’t take any chances.

Howling, the creature dropped to the ground, convulsing in pain. Its brethren stopped their gloating and roared, faces twisting in anger. They unsheathed their weapons and lunged at the adventurer, cursing him in their own, garbled language.

So much for the long-range advantage, Goblin Slayer thought. Just as he was considering the pros and cons of a disgraceful retreat, he heard Priestess’s voice ring out behind him:

_“Oh merciful Earth Mother, grant light to we, who are lost in darkness! Holy Light!!!”_

And the Earth Mother granted her wish, bathing the darkened forest in a blinding flash of light. The hobgoblins stumbled and hissed, trying to shield their eyes. It was a nasty thing, this holy light. It burned the eyes badly and its effect lasted for a while, even after the miracle was over. Goblin Slayer had personally experienced its effect once, when Priestess blinded him by accident in the heat of battle. It had taken about a couple of hours for his sight to fully recover after that. But as long as he kept the light to his back, he knew it would be fine.

Using this advantage, he lunged at the hobgoblins. They swung their large clubs and swords at him, but missed by a long shot as he nimbly dashed between them. One of the enemies managed to hit its own comrade with a club, eliciting a pained shout from the creature. Meanwhile, the warrior moved behind their backs and targeted the injured one, slashing the tendons in its right leg with a single swing of a sword. The hobgoblin howled and dropped to one knee. Even so, its height towered over Goblin Slayer, who leapt for its neck and delivered the finishing blow. Blood burst out like a fountain from where his sword pierced the monster’s flesh, then its huge body dropped to the ground.

Two down; another two left.

Goblin Slayer dodged a half-assed attempt by the other hobgoblin to slash at him with its sword. He was forced to squint for a moment as he turned to face it and the holy light hit his eyes, but Priestess immediately moved behind his back again. And where was the champion? He couldn’t see anything but his own shadow and the hobgoblin before him. The champion had wandered off somewhere in the commotion, which wasn’t good at all. He needed to finish off the smaller one as quickly as possible, or else the champion would cause them trouble.

Hobgoblins were brutish and resilient, but at the same time clumsy and stupid. Blinded, this one was even clumsier. Goblin Slayer danced around it swiftly, dodging its slow attacks with ease, while hacking and slashing at every bit of green skin he could reach. The massive creature’s unarmored arms and legs got covered in bleeding cuts, but it still kept fighting. In the end, the human managed to deliver a kick to its knee and trip it. The moment the hulking figure tumbled down, he slit its throat and finished it off.

“Wah!!” Priestess let out a short, sharp scream from behind him.

Goblin Slayer whirled around without thinking and hissed as the holy light hit his eyes. The champion! It had ignored the fight completely and somehow blindly stumbled to the girl. A typical thing for any goblin to do, no matter how big or small. The creature was absolutely _massive_ and armed with a heavy, two-handed axe. It was a good-quality weapon, looted from some dead adventurer. As it swung the axe at Priestess, she tried to block it with her staff. There was a deafening clang of metal against metal as the steel shaft took the hit, but it was so powerful that the impact managed to bend it. The girl remained unharmed, but the hit shoved her back and rattled every bone in her frail body. Even damaged, her staff kept channeling the miracle.

“Priestess! Stop the light!” Goblin Slayer yelled at her. He took a half-blind step towards her, trying to shield his eyes with a gloved hand and almost stumbled in a pile of snow.

“Nononononoo…” The girl repeated in a panic, trying to walk backwards and keep a distance from the hulking monster before her. No matter how many champions she’d helped slay, they always terrified her. Her first encounter with one of those creatures would forever haunt her memories. And this was the largest one she’d ever seen, easily twice her size.

“You have to make it stop. Calm down!” Her party leader demanded again, but it was no use.

“I can’t! I can’t, I can’t…” She kept chanting to herself, hands clamped tight around the scepter and shivering, then she turned around and ran, while still pointing the _‘Holy Light’_ backwards. With a roar, the goblin champion followed her, orienting itself by sound and scent alone.

“Damn it.” Goblin Slayer cursed under his breath and broke into a sprint after them. He threw his sword at the brute’s back and it was sheer luck that guided it to his mark. Though the creature was wearing armor and didn’t take much damage from the hit, it still served to grab its attention. “You goblins are all filthy cowards.” He growled at it.

With an angry roar for being denied its prize, the champion switched targets. The axe went straight for Goblin Slayer’s head and he had no other option but to dodge. The monster dished out a barrage of hits on him and forced him entirely on the defensive. He rolled and danced away from every attack, trying to find an opening. In the meantime, Priestess had finally stopped casting _‘Holy Light’_ and was watching the fight helplessly.

The axe swung again, narrowly missing his head, and imbedded itself in a nearby tree instead. The goblin growled as it tried to pull it out, but it was stuck pretty deep. Goblin Slayer took the chance. He leapt at it with a dagger, aiming for the neck, but the bastard was just too tall. He managed to bury the short blade up to the hilt near the monster’s collar bone.

Blood gushed out and the champion roared, but the victory was short-lived as one of its massive, muscular hands reached out and clamped around Goblin Slayer’s throat, then lifted him off the ground like a ragdoll.

_“No!!!”_ Priestess screamed in terror as the creature bashed her party leader into the nearby tree. The gruesome sight somehow managed to deliver the needed adrenalin rush to break her out of the frozen stupor. But what could she do? None of her miracles would be of any help. _‘Protection’_ or _‘Heal’_ were no use while the enemy’s got you in their hold, while _‘Silence’_ would be ridiculous in the situation. The two fighters were grappling at each other, but it was clear who had the upper hand. Caught in a chokehold, it would be only a matter of time before Goblin Slayer loses the fight. “Let go!” She shouted in a moment of courage and hit the monster in the back of the knee with the butt of her staff, after having seen Goblin Slayer do something similar against the hobgoblins just a moment ago. The sturdy steel staff caused the creature a great amount of pain and managed to bring it down to its knees.

As always, Goblin Slayer never failed to make use of a distraction. He grabbed the monster’s arm for purchase and twisted in its grip like a feral cat, lifting his legs up and coiling like a spring, then delivering a powerful kick to its armored chest. A pair of blades hidden in his boots sprung out at the impact and pierced the armor, imbedding themselves deep into the champion’s chest.

The goblin howled in pain and immediately tossed him aside like a rag, but the blades broke off and stayed stuck inside the wound.

However, Goblin Slayer was in no better state as he fell gracelessly into a pile of snow. He struggled to lift himself up on all fours, gasping and wheezing.

“Are you okay?!” Priestess called out in a panicked voice, but he couldn’t answer as a coughing fit tore through his chest. He clawed at the fastenings of the helmet and violently tore it off his head, then tossed it aside. Immediately after that he started coughing out blood. The monster had crushed his windpipe, she realized. In this state he couldn’t breathe properly. And drinking a healing potion would be out of the question. That only left one option:

_“Oh, Earth Mother, abounding in mercy, lay your revered hand upon this child’s wounds! Heal!”_

More and more snow was falling from the sky. But there was something else flowing through the air, too, something that nobody but Priestess could see. Particles of light glimmered all around them, but they came from the ground instead of the sky. The miracle of _‘Heal’_ borrowed energies from the life-giving Earth, to be used as the caster pleases. They wandered like fireflies and clustered around Goblin Slayer’s body, seeking out the injury, then disappearing somewhere beneath the skin. His ragged breathing soon smoothed out into the normal, gasping breaths of someone who’s just run a marathon. He was out of danger for now, but still in no condition to fight.

In the meantime, the goblin champion was starting to get back up. It had four blades sticking out of its body – one sword in the back, a dagger near the collarbone and another pair to the gut. It was bleeding heavily. There was no way it would survive all of those injuries, that was just a matter of time. But somehow the adrenaline still kept the monster going. When it looked at Priestess, she could see nothing but hatred and rage in its soulless yellow eyes. It might’ve been dying, but it was determined to drag them both to hell with it, too. The girl shivered as she bore that look. People tend to say that goblins are somewhat like people. As far as monsters go, they look a lot like humans and possess human-like intelligence. But that’s where all the similarities end. Goblins had no soul. As much as she’d tried to convince herself otherwise, two years spent studying them had disillusioned her. They knew no emotions but anger and envy and greed. A goblin loved no one but itself; not even its own offspring. Whereas a mother wolf or bear would die protecting their young, a goblin was more likely to throw its children in the line of fire, if that would benefit itself. They had more in common with parasites than any pack animals or people.

The champion got shakily back on its feet. It picked its axe back up and slowly, painfully, headed towards the adventurers, hell-bent on finishing the job. It towered over Priestess and cast a shadow over her. She paled. Everything was up to her.

“Oh, Mother, give me strength…” She whispered, wide-eyed and terrified. The champion glanced between her and the fallen party leader, growled, then decided that Goblin Slayer was the easier prey. Heaving the heavy axe, it strained its muscles and threw it.

_“Protection!!!”_ Priestess cried out.

The axe hit a barrier, then bounced off it harmlessly and dropped down into the snow. Angered, the goblin roared and started hitting the invisible wall with its fists, only a breath away from the girl’s face. What could she do? Her frontline needed time to recover, but the enemy showed no signs of giving up. She needed to buy more time somehow…

Think, think… If the others were here, what would they do?

Perhaps she could try trapping it between two barriers, just like they did to the goblin lord. She’d be able to keep them up for a long time, since the enemy would be rendered immobile and unable to damage them. However, with the strain of maintaining two barriers at once, she’d be unable to move, too…

She glanced around, searching for some sort of inspiration. Trees, snow, bushes, more trees… There was nothing of use.

But then she heard it. The rumbling of falling water. The river was nearby. Just about twenty steps from this clearing was the river shore, hidden behind a thicket of evergreen bushes. In this part of the mountain the river had dug through the ancient rocks and formed a deep ravine.

Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her damaged staff with both hands and held it out before her vertically, like a border between herself and the monster. She steeled herself and looked into its beady yellow eyes, then took a step forward. The invisible barrier obeyed her command and moved forward as well.

The monster stumbled back a step, surprised at the sudden pressure pushing it. It looked around in confusion, but could find no source. Taking advantage of its distraction, Priestess took another step, and then another, slowly but surely herding it backwards. Annoyed, the behemoth let out a roar and started punching at the wall with renewed vigor. The cleric did not relent.

It was almost comical, if you looked at the scene from aside. A tiny frail maiden trying to go up against a brute easily twice her size. But said enemy was weak and bleeding and still half blind from the holy light. The goblin couldn’t understand what was going on, it could only feel relentless, invisible pressure. Was there perhaps a third adventurer, hiding somewhere in the bushes and helping with the fight…?

But then the goblin heard the sound of falling water from behind itself. When it looked back and noticed the deep ravine, the adventurers’ intent became clear. The chasm was steep and rocky. There’d be no surviving a fall like that.

Alarmed, the goblin dug its heels into the snowy ground and tried pushing back. Priestess gasped and tried to resist, but the creature was too strong and heavy. They engaged in fruitless tug of war until they were both left breathless. Her frail shoulders shook with the strain and cold sweat broke on her face.

But then something else happened. The barrier glimmered. And the monster’s hands from where it had them propped against it _burned_. The creature let out a pained howl and stumbled back another step. When it lifted its hands, they were burned and covered in blisters. Priestess pressed on without thinking, gaining even more ground. The wind was picking up; a sure sign of an incoming storm. It messed with her too-long hair and sent strands of it in her face, but she had no time to clear them away.

The ravine was at the goblin’s back now. There was nowhere left to go. Growling, the champion gathered its last remaining strength and pushed back for all its worth. Its green skin sizzled upon contact with the miracle, but this didn’t deter it one bit.

Priestess grunted, too weak to withstand it. This was no use. The monster figured out how weak she really is and it was only a matter of time before it breaks loose.

Then unexpected help came from behind her as a glass bottle hit the goblin straight in the face. It shattered, sending shards flying everywhere.

“GARUUU?!” The goblin startled and let go, trying to shield its eyes.

At that moment Goblin Slayer lunged at it. He leapt forward, throwing his full weight into a kick with both legs.

“GAAARRRR!” The impact hit the champion in the stomach and sent it flying backwards. It was this final push that made it tumble down into the ravine, while Goblin Slayer landed gracelessly on the ground near the edge.

The warrior stood up quickly and peered into the depths of the chasm. His impassive eyes took in the goblin’s body that lay shattered on the rocks near the river shore. Beside him, Priestess stood exhausted and tried to steady her breathing. They made it. Somehow they pulled through.

“Who taught you that?” Goblin Slayer asked and turned to her with a somewhat calculating look. The wind was tossing around strands of his unkempt hair, but he didn’t seem to notice. Priestess remembered Cow Girl telling her once, over one-too-many glasses of wine, that his hair used to be black as a child. But then _The Goblins_ happened and he disappeared for five years, and when he returned, most of his hair had gone prematurely gray. There were still some black strands poking out here and there, making it look more like a wolf’s mane than actual hair.

“Nobody.” She admitted. “I just came up with it on the spur of the moment.”

His skin was pale and ashen from being hidden away from sunlight for so long. And he seemed way too young to have so many scars.

“I see.” He nodded in understanding. It was a familiar gesture. “Your spells are getting stronger.” Most people complained about Goblin Slayer always wearing a helmet. However, they didn’t realize that helmet or not, that man was just as strange and hard to read.

His eyes, always bloodshot from never getting enough sleep, had a strange look in them. People assumed him to be angry or annoyed based on his brusque attitude, but the emotion wasn’t really there. Priestess didn’t know what to call that look. It’s easy to point out an emotion that’s there, but the _lack of_ something is much more difficult to define.

If she had to describe his eyes in one word, she’d call them _lightless_. However, it was nothing that she hadn’t seen before. She wasn’t intimidated by it. On the contrary, she knew this man was capable of great kindness. Ever since he’d saved her life and dragged her away from that terrible fate, she’d stayed by his side. Perhaps it was out of sense of loyalty, or maybe some sort of co-dependence, but she’d sworn to herself to never leave his side.

“I guess they are…” She agreed. Her smile was tired, but also filled with pride.

“The promotion exams are coming up.” He informed her. “Guess I’ll need to put in a good word for you.” And then the corner of his lips twitched up in a barely-there smirk.

“Really??” Priestess’s eyes lit up despite her exhaustion and her whole face brightened in a brilliant smile. “Oh thank you! This would mean so much to me!”

Distracted as they were, they never noticed it. That _someone else_ was still there, watching. A child-like shadow; a pair of malicious yellow eyes. A large stone held in hand.

When Goblin Slayer noticed, it was too late. The stone was already thrown and flying at them. He whipped out a knife and tossed it at the lone goblin, killing it with a single hit. The stone missed him. Though it was never meant for him.

Priestess didn’t even have enough time to gasp as the stone hit her straight in the head. And the next moment she was falling, unconscious, straight down into the ravine.

Goblin Slayer had no time to react. His blood ran cold as he stood there and watched her fall.

But her slight frame didn’t hit the rocky shore where the goblin champion met its death. Instead, she splashed into the water and the stream started to carry her away.

“Shit.” Goblin Slayer cursed under his breath, then broke into a sprint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me. I know you really want to. XD


	8. Chapter 8

He sprinted downstream along the river, while the goblins' shrill voices called after him. They were hot on his heels, but there was no time to deal with them. If he wasn't fast enough, the stream would carry her away.

  
Luckily, the river's high tide wasn't due until late spring, when the snow starts to melt. Right now it was a sluggish stream that he could easily outrun. Further down the mountain slope, the ravine grew gradually broader and shallower, until it disappeared completely. He just needed to get there ahead of the stream.

  
As soon as it was safe to do so, he leapt off the rocks and down by the river shore, then got thigh-deep into the biting cold water just in time to grab the girl as the flow brought her by. Out of breath, he dragged them both to the shore and collapsed. That goblin champion really did a number on him. Every muscle in his body was sore and bruised and the winter chill made it even harder to move. To make things even worse, a snow storm was coming up, the sky was darkening and the temperatures were quickly dropping even further.

  
There was no time to rest. She needed urgent help. If the goblins didn't get them first, the snowstorm would kill them for sure. He was in no condition to fight, but even if he tried, she'd be left unprotected. And he'd rather swallow glass then let the monsters take her.

  
He got up, pulled her up as well and held her around the waist, then pushed her head down and gave her back a few hefty smacks. Her lungs reflexively started coughing up the water. Once that was over, he carefully laid her back down on the snow and checked for injuries. Her wet hair was matted; the blond strands already starting to freeze into icycles and covered with clotted blood. He found the head injury with some effort and noticed it was still bleeding sluggishly. Priestess let out a pained moan and her eyes fluttered, but didn't open. She was semi-conscious, but it was clear that stone had done some serious damage to her head. They needed to do something about the bleeding.

  
He reached back to his item pouch and took out a healing potion. She didn't react when he brought it to her lips, but immediatelly started coughing it out once the liquid poured in her mouth.

  
Goblin Slayer frowned. Perhaps it wasn't such a bright idea to give liquids to somene who'd been drowning just a moment ago. Unfortunately, that's as far as his first aid goes.

  
He needed to get her back to civilization as soon as possible. His bloodshot eyes gave her a calculating once-over. That fur coat had to go. It was thorougly soaked and weighed as much as a rock. It wouldn't be any good for keeping her warm, either. He pulled it off her frame and tossed it away.

  
His bow and arrow needed to go, too. He won't be able to carry them with her on his back. They were low-quality items, cheaply made and easy to replace. He could even make them by himself, so it was no big loss to leave them behind.

  
With that done, he took off his leather cape and wrapped the girl in it. Hopefully, it would ward off the wind.

  
Her item bag came next; every bit of extra weight needed to be disposed of. The map, the herbs and bandages were thoroughly soaked and ruined. He only left the potions and some of her personal belongings.

  
They'd lost her staff somewhere. Perhaps it had gotten stuck into some rocks upstream. How valuable was it, exactly? Could she cast miracles without it? Could it be remade by any blacksmith, or was it supposed to come from a temple? He really didn't know. They'd have to cross that bridge when they get there.

  
A goblin yelled in the distance, then another joined it. Time was up.

  
Goblin Slayer hauled the girl on his back and hurried off into the forest. His footsteps left a visible trail in the snow, but the strong wind blew it away like sand. For this part the bad weather was on their side.

  
The silver ranked adventurer knew well how to use any advantages of the surrounding terrain. He followed the wind's direction so that his sent would be carried away by it and the goblins won't be able sense it.

  
The nearest refuge was the Riverside Village, but unfortunately, the monsters would know to ambush him along the way. He needed to change route and stay off the paths.

  
With that decided, he ventured deeper into the unmapped depths of the forest. If he kept walking down the slope long enough, he'd reach the path that leads to the City, and the Market Village before it. However, it was a long and uneven descent without the comfort of a path and no map to navigate with. With one free hand he held on to the pine trees for stability, while the other one supported Priestess's small behind. Night fell in the blink of an eye and bathed everything in darkness. The pines' thick crowns covered the sky, so that not even the stars and moons could lend them their light. Yet he didn't feel safe enough to light a torch.

  
His blood froze for a moment as an owl hooted nearby. Half-blind and wary, he hurried on. Priestess moaned again and he got an unwanted deja-vu about the woman they'd rescued the day before. But Priestess wasn't a victim, he reminded himself. She was an injured comrade, but not a victim. Pressed against his back as she was, he felt her shiver violently from the cold.

  
"GRRRR."

 

"GARGARRRRB!"

  
Damnable creatures! They could see perfectly well in the night. He wasn't fast enough, they were catching up...!

  
Goblin Slayer halted as the forest before him cleared and exposed the edge of a cliff. With goblin scouts on one side and an abyss on the other, there were few options left. If he changes direction and runs, the goblins would sense him and catch up easily. That's why he needed to stay hidden.

  
He glanced around and spotted a gigantic, age-old tree. Its trunk was as thick as the girth of a dozed grown men and its roots were like grasping tentacles burried deep into the soil. They'd outgrown the area and some of them were hanging off from the cliff. He hurried to hide behind it, on the side facing the edge, then crouched down among the roots and waited. With baited breath, he strained his ears to better hear the goblin scout approaching.

  
Priestess chose that moment to let out another pained moan. He hushed her, then carefully smoothed back a strand of her too-long hair that the wind had somehow managed to blow in his face.

  
The goblin's footsteps left quiet sqwelching in the snow as it slowly neared their hiding spot.

  
The moment it peekeed around the tree, Goblin Slayer pulled it behind the trunk and snapped its neck with bare hands. The scout died without making a sound.

  
"GRRRR??" The other goblins from the hunting party approached. Where did their idiotic comrade go? It was there just a moment ago. Puzzled, they came near the cliff. There were between ten and fifteen if them, judging by the noises.

  
Goblin Slayer picked the right moment, then threw the corpse off the edge, a bit to the side of his hiding spot. It made a lot of noise goin down.

  
Startled, the rest of the goblins rushed to the source and clambered around the edge like monkeys. They assumed the scout had tripped and fallen off by itself. Instead of showing pity, they let out sharp, cruel laughters at its misfortune. _What an idiot. Suits him right._

  
Gobin Slayer used the distraction and snuck around the other side of the tree with Priestess on his back. He made sure to cover the goblins' tracks with his own. Once he got deep enough into the forest to be out of sight, he branched off from their path and made haste.

  
Far behind him, the strong wind and the falling snow made his footsteps disappear.

 

88888888

 

At some point Priestess had stopped shivering.

  
He held no illusions that it was a good thing.

  
The snowfall had picked up and was blasting tiny shards of ice into his bare face. But as long as he kept moving, he'd be warm enough to make do. There was no time to rest; the descent down the mountain had already taken them hours and was bound to take many more. So he kept on walking through the dark. The trees were silent shadows all around them. He strained his ears warily, but the only sounds he could pick up were the girl's shallow breathing and the rhytmic crunching of the snow beneath his feet.

 

The good news was that they'd finally managed to lose the goblins. The bad news - that there were many other creatures living in these woods.

  
A wolf howled somewhere. Others followed. Goblin Slayer froze and listened. One, three... five of them. A small pack. But they were too far away to cause any trouble.

  
Just when he was about to resume walking, another, sharper and louder howl sounded from behind his back. He startled and whirled around, blindly reaching to his hip for a weapon while his other hand was busy supporting the girl's weight. That noise had come from no further than fifty steps from their location. Staring into the darkness, he struglled to catch sight of the beasts.

  
The first thing he saw was a pair of pale eyes glowing in the dark. Then, as the beast shifted closer on silent paws, it crossed a small clearing in the woods and for a brief moment the moonlight shone upon its grey fur and he could see its whole silhouette. It was a large creature; long-legged and slender; its back as tall as Goblin Slayer's chest. For a long, tense moment, human and wolf stared at each-other in assessing silence. The wolf let out a warning growl and Goblin Slayer noticed a couple of similar silhouettes shift behind it, trying to circle around him. He stilled his breathing and remained facing the pack leader, while keeping watch of the others with his peripheral vision. It was important when dealing with animals to be completely calm and to stand your ground. Animals were nothing like monsters. They weren't evil. They didn't hate people unconditionally the way goblins do.

  
Slowly, his fingers locked arround a smoke bomb in the pouch around his waist. He meant those noble beasts no harm; just needed safe passage through their territory. As long as they kept their distance, he'd gladly keep his.

  
The alpha wolf snorted air through its nose, then swiftly turned and walked away.

  
Goblin Slayer didn't know what made it lose interest. Perhaps humans didn't smell tasty to it. Or perhaps it was the scent of goblin blood that drove it away. Even wolves knew to keep their distance from goblins. Either way, it didn't really matter. The wolves ventured deeper into the forest, while the adventurers slowly made their way out of it.

  
At the next clearing Goblin Slayer finally found the path to the City. And further down he could see the lights of a small populated area that could only be the Market Village.

  
From then on the trek was easier.

 

88888888

 

The Inkeeper's son startled awake when the doorbell rang in the middle of the nigh, signalling the arrival of a late customer.

  
"Do you have any rooms?" A snow-covered stranger asked in a level voice. On his back he was carrying an unconscious girl.

  
"W-what happened?!" The boy leapt to his feet and went around the counter to greet them. He had raven hair and grey eyes, just like most of the locals in these parts. "Is she okay?"

  
"She needs healing." The man answered gravely. There was a silver tag around his neck.

  
Adventurers! In their humble inn! Oh, this was so exciting. It never even crossed the boy's mind that an adventurer could be anything but a good and noble person. A strange man carrying around an unconscious girl in the middle of the night wasn't at all suspicious, at least to an impressionable young mind such as his.

  
"Oh no! What happened to her?" The boy fussed uselessly, circling around them.

  
"A goblin hit her on the head and she fell into the river." Goblin Slayer looked him up and down from head to toe. The kid couldn't be any older than thirteen. "Are you the inkeeper?" He asked in an impatient tone that suggested otherwise.

  
"Me?" The boy looked around, as if to make sure there was no one else. "No, no. The inkeeper is my dad, but he got down with the flue and went to bed early. I'm covering for him." Suddenly remembering he had a job to do, the boy rushed back behind the counter and started rummaging through a book. Only his head was visible above the countertop. "I can get you settled, though. You need to get that girl warm, or she might catch frostbite. My great-uncle lost two fingers that way and believe me, you don't want that happening." He chattered on while flipping through half a dozen pages. "Hopefully, there's still some rooms left... We're pretty busy right now. The market day was today, but with that blizzard outside the merchants couldn't leave on time and were forced to stay overnight... Ah, there's one left!" The kid pointed with excitement at an empty row in the book. "Second floor to the left; chamber number four. Let's get you settled!" Then he grabbed the keys and rushed up the stairs.

  
Goblin Slayer blinked, then followed at a much slower pace.

  
Once they got into the room, he carefully laid Priestess on the bed while the Inkeeper's son was throwing firewood into the hearth. She was so pale. Her lips had turned blue from the cold and there was hardly a breath coming out of them. This wasn't good at all.

  
"Inflammarea." The boy whispered and the hearth suddenly lit up.

 

Goblin Slayer looked at him in surprize. He would've liked to ask, but there were much more urgent matters at hand. "Is there a healer in this village?" He inquired instead.

  
They boy turned back to him and answered with regret: "I'm sorry, but no. There's a temple at the City though. The acolites there have proper healing miracles. Once the storm passes, you should take your companion there. I could loan you a pair of horses, if you'd like; the paths here are too narrow for a proper cart."

  
Goblin Slayer mulled that over for a moment. "I'll leave immediately then." He turned back to the bed, picked up Priestess bridal style and headed to the door.

  
The Inkeeper's son blinked in confusion. "W-wait! Hold on just a minute, wait!" He rushed ahead and blocked the way while waving his arms around. "You can't go! It's too dangerous! The storm is getting stronger!"

  
"The girl needs help. She may not make it until then." He insisted.

  
"But you'll die out there! You just can't!" The boy argued back.

  
"No, I won't. I'm used to the cold."

  
"The hosres will die, too!" The kid shouted up at him.

  
"......"

  
"Look, just stay put and I'll... I'll go wake up my mom, okay? She isn't as good as the healers at the temple, but knows how to make potions and stuff. She'll know what to do. And I'll get some more blankets, too. Just don't go anywhere, okay?" Then the boy rushed outside and shut the door behind himself.

  
"......" Goblin Slayer turned around and gently laid Priestess down again. Her clothes were soaked and half-frozen; her golden hair had ice crystals in it. He needed to get her dry and warm somehow. There was no other way around it and nobody else to delegate this to. He really wished his other teammates were here. Either High Elf Archer or even Lizard Priest as their spare healer would've been better suited for this job. Anyone else would be better at this than him. But unfortunatelly, they were on their own.

  
He started to pull off her white robe without much fuss. Boots came off next, then socks. The chainmail was a little difficult to remove, but somehow he managed. Swiftly, methodically, he stripped everything else.

  
Her body was so delicate and pale, just like a porcelain doll. He felt an unexpected surge of protectiveness seeing her bared and vulnerable like this. Her lips parted in a pained moan, but otherwise she didn't even stir.

  
He laid her clothes and boots near the fireplace to dry. A spare set was in her item bag, but it had also gotten wet in the river. That's why he rummaged for one of his own clean shirts and carefully dressed her in it. It looked more like a loose gown on her smaller frame. With that done, he wrapped her up in blankets, then went to throw some more firewood in the hearth. The room was already pleasantly warm. She'd probably be mortified later, he thought, but he'd much rather deal with her being mad than frostbitten.

  
There was a knock on the door. When he opened it, the Inkeeper's son was back with his mother and a huge stack of wool blankets. They both rushed inside without waiting for an invitation.

  
"Oh, the poor thing..." The thin, middle-aged woman rushed to the bed and placed a hand on Priestess's forehead. "She's so cold. Where did the goblin hit her head?" The Inkeeper's wife turned to ask Goblin Slayer.

 

"Left side, near the temple." The stoic adventurer replied.

  
The woman brushed away Priestess's hair and found the wound, then laid her hand over it. She started whispering something too quiet to hear, then her palm started glowing.

  
"A healing spell...?" Goblin Slayer mused aloud.

  
"It's a very low-level spell; only good for cuts and bruises." The woman answered and tucked away a strand of her own salt-and-pepper hair back into the messy bun on top of her head. It was clear she'd been risen from sleep just a moment ago. "There's a chance she might have difficulty remembering things once awake. I'm afraid the healers at the temple are better equipped to help her than I am." Then she reached into a pocket on her nightgown and took out a pearly-white potion. "We call these 'thawing potions'," she proceeded to explain. "They help with early symptoms of hypothermia and frostbite, which are real common around here."

  
Goblin Slayer watched with rapt attention as the Inkeeper's wife gently lifted Priestess's head from the pillow, then held her jaw in a particular way and carefully started pouring the contents of the small bottle. The girl coughed at first, but then started to drink on reflex.

  
"There, there." The Inkeeper's wife soothed, then put the empty bottle away. She turned back to Goblin Slayer and tried to put on a reassuring smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "You've done all you can, you should get some rest. I'll bring some more thawing potions; try giving her one every hour or so. If you can't, then come and fetch me. I'll be downstairs."

  
She and the boy both headed back downstairs, leaving Goblin Slayer to his own uneasy thoughts. It didn't escape his attention that they never said Priestess would be alright, they just claimed he'd done everything he could.

  
He knew he won't be getting any sleep tonight. He was way too restless. He started pacing the room for lack of anything better to do. Stopped by the bed for a moment, threw another blanket over the girl, then continued pacing. A glance through the window confirmed that the storm outside had gotten even worse. The snowfall was as heavy and thick as a white curtain that cut off the inn from the rest of the world. On the plus side, there was no need to patrol for goblins tonight. Even they weren't spiteful enough to attack a village in such weather.  
On the negative side, he also felt trapped inside.

  
Trying to ease his nerves, he wrapped Priestess in another couple of blankets. His thoughts couldn't help but stray in a dark direction. He'd seen too much death in his life to not concider the possibility that she might not wake up to see the dawn. Perhaps it was time to steel himself for the worst.

  
It had been... difficult to grow used to her following him at first, two years ago. But she'd somehow grown into a solid and welcome presence in his life. At some point he'd stopped questioning her constant fluttering about, the gentle touches and fond smiles.

  
The light in her eyes would become another sorrow added to the rest and his world would grow a little darker without it.

  
Goblin Slayer knew that one way or another, he won't be going back to the Frontier without her. Those goblins all deserved to die and he'd find a way to make it happen, even if it costs him everything. Perhaps then his own soul would find peace, here among the pine trees and the snow.

  
Slowly, he wrapped his arms around Priestess and picked her up, blankets and all, then sat down in front of the hearth and watched the firewood burn.

  
He could slay hundreds of monsters for her.

  
But he couldn't give her life.


	9. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in a row today - chapter 9 and chapter 10. Because at this point you'd kill me if I don't. XD

It was snowing.

But for some reason the snow was falling upwards from the ground. The snowflakes danced in chaotic patterns and glowed like fireflies in a summer night.

 _'A healing miracle...?'_ Priestess mused. _'But who...?'_

There was a shadowy figure standing in the middle of the dark, unfamiliar room. It was tall and slender; way too tall for a human, yet too slim to be an ogre or another kind of beast. Its features were shrouded in darkness, hidden beneath the hood of a long robe, yet for some reason the girl did not feel alarmed.

This wasn't normal, she mused in a detached way, as if in a dream-like haze. She should be _very_ alarmed and trying to defend herself, but for some reason her body didn't share the sentiment. The fight-or-flight instinct was completely gone.

That's when Priestess realized she was affected by the _'Calm'_ miracle.

 _'Another priest...?'_   The girl wondered, but couldn't find her voice to ask. What had happened to her? Where was she? Why did she feel so tired, so weak... She had no idea who this person was, yet there was no malice about them. At second glance, she noticed that the figure was holding a very familiar-looking crescent-shaped staff.

Despite the stupor, Priestess's eyes widened in awe. The other nuns at her temple had told her stories as a child. How the Goddess would show herself to the worthy ones to grant them premonitions and healing. They'd describe the Goddess as 'maternal', though Priestess had never known a mother of her own and had no idea what a mother was supposed to look like. Maybe that's why this Avatar remained faceless to her.

When the vision spoke, the voice was feminine, which shed the last of Priestess's doubt that this was indeed an avatar of the Earth Mother.

The Goddess spoke in a hushed whisper and the girl listened with rapt attention, putting to memory each and every word.

She spoke of an abondoned temple of the Olden Gods. Of a holy ground here in the heights of these mountains. A ruined temple, forgotten by the local people and hidden among the evergreen forests.

Of an uspeakable evil that has taken roots within. And a fallen champion of light whose soul was subject to its whims.

Someone was tampering with the spiritual border between the living and the dead. A necromancer learning his trade and slowly gaining power. This creature needed to be stopped at all costs...

"Yes..." Priestess agreed in a whisper. "I'll do anything I can to help. Anything at all..." How could she deny the Earth Mother? The divine being who watches over her during the hardest moments in her life; the one who's granted every miracle she's ever prayed for? "My body may be weak, but my soul is yours." She promised with heartfelt devotion.

The Goddess nodded, seeming satisfied by the answer. Slowly, with utmost grace, she came closer to the girl and crouched down by her side, then offered the following strange words of advice:

 

 

_**"Cut the strings and the puppet shall fall."** _

 

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Two updates in a row today - Ch.9 & Ch10**
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> I know this is the moment you've all been waiting for. The expectations are high. To be honest, I've been going through a serious case of stage fright about this chapter and gathering the courage to post it for a while.
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> I've been turning this scene over and over in my head, wondering what's the best way to go about it, how to stay true to the characters. Let me tell you, those two are _really_ hard to work with. One of them was literally raised in a temple. The other is PTSD-ed to hell and back. They're both hilariously bad at this, so prepare for some awkwardness and a few blunders before the 'happy ending'.
> 
> Well, here we go.

Her senses felt only static as she struggled to wake up. There were white spots in her vision and ringing in her ears; all of her fingertips and toes felt like she was dragging them on sandpaper. Had she gone into overcast again? But she didn’t remember casting any miracles. Had something happened to her?

She woke up to an unfamiliar room and tried to move, but there was something stopping her limbs. She found herself bundled up in no less than three wool blankets. There were even more blankets piled on the floor around her like some sort of nest, as well as half a dozen empty potion bottles. She looked around and almost gasped as she came face to face with Goblin Slayer. Still helmetless, he was sat down on the floor and holding her in his lap. At some point during the night he’d removed the metal parts of his armor and dozed off. But upon her movement, his eyes immediately fluttered open.

“You’re alive.” He stated the obvious.

“…Yes?”

“That’s good.”

“……”

“……”

“Um… Why wouldn’t I be?” Priestess asked, confused.

“A goblin hit your head with a sling and then you fell into the river. You were very cold and wouldn’t wake up.”

“Oh.” She said eloquently, trying hard to remember. There was the goblin champion, the river, Goblin Slayer talking about the promotion exams… Then things got a little blurry and painful. “You were trying to keep me warm?” She guessed, as this was the only thing that made sense.

“Yes.”

“Did you spend the whole night like _this_?” She asked, cocking her head at the nest of blankets all over his lap and the floor.

“Yes.”

“…I’m so sorry for making you worry.”

“No.” He shook his head. “Things like that happen.”

Priestess smiled at that, feeling warmth flutter in her chest. This was the most endearing thing she’d ever seen him do. She’d made him worry all night long, yet he wasn’t angry. This made her recall that no matter how many times she’d apologized to him over the years – be it for something as minor as being late or for something serious like getting him injured during a quest - he’d always dismiss it with the same words. _'Things like that happen.'_ He always forgives, which was surprisingly kind.

She blushed, suddenly realizing how close they were at the moment. She could practically feel his strong chest move with every breath; his arms wrapped loosely around her over the warm blankets. When she shifted nervously, he (regretfully) let go, allowing her to wriggle out of the wool cocoon. And then she noticed it. That large linen shirt she was wearing… it wasn’t hers. And there was nothing else underneath it.

Blushing beet red, she glanced back at him, startled, and was met with a cool, assessing gaze.

“……”

“……”

“Don’t be mad.” He tried.

The silence that followed could make a field of crickets seem deafeningly loud. If it were possible, her face got even redder. And she wanted to scream from embarrassment and just shove him away and go hide somewhere, but what came out of her mouth was completely different:

“My body… do you think it’s pretty?” She was self-conscious, though it felt like for all the wrong reasons. She’d come to terms with the fact that she may never get nicer breasts or… or stronger thighs like some of the prettiest women at the Guild.

That finally got a bit of a reaction out of Goblin Slayer. His eyebrows furrowed a little and she could almost feel the gears turning in his head hard enough to grind grain, as he struggled to formulate a socially correct answer. “It has a certain grace to it.” He betted on the truth.

Unexpected warmth pooled in her chest at those words. A compliment! From him. And he was known to be incapable of lying. Why was this so important to her all of a sudden? And why was she still on his lap and dressed in his too large shirt and surrounded by his scent that somehow she’d come to associate with the feelings of comfort and safety…

And before she knew any better, she closed the distance between them and kissed him.

It was nothing like described in pompous romance novels; just a tentative press of lips against lips. Orphan girls at the temple don’t get to learn much about matters of the heart, even if the Earth Mother is supposed to be a goddess of fertility. So perhaps her best attempt came off a little bit clumsy. After that she slowly pulled away and blurted out: “I love you.”

Goblin Slayer blinked. His calm gaze focused on her lips, then looked back up to meet her sapphire eyes. “No, you don’t.” He retorted. Though at no point did he try to move or deter her in any way.

“How so?” Priestess asked, somehow not surprised. Of all the possible answers, this one must be the weirdest.

“Because that would be an unreasonable thing to do.”

The girl held back a sigh. Nothing was ever easy with this guy, was it? “It doesn’t have to be _reasonable_ , silly. Why do you always push people away?”

“No, I don’t.” His lips twitched into a barely-there frown, which quickly disappeared. “Nobody’s ever tried to kiss me before, if that’s what you mean.”

This time Priestess really did groan. _'Oh, you poor, ignorant soul. That helmet protects you from so much more than goblins.'_   How could she possibly get it through that thick head of his? What more could she do? Perhaps she needs to be as blunt and crude as a dwarven shieldbreaker to get the idea across…

Before the courage left her, she pulled the shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor, leaving herself completely exposed before him.

His gaze moved down her frame reflexively, then up again until it settled on her eyes. Even he wasn’t so detached from reality that he wouldn’t understand what was being offered. A woman’s first time was supposed to be a very special gift; one that should be accepted responsibly.

Young couples formed in the Frontier City all the time. People fell in love, got married and started families. Life went on, yet the game always remained the same: women play coy, men try to impress, yet it’s always the woman that chooses in the end. (Spearman immediately comes to mind, with his compulsion to always impress every woman in sight.) It’s something that’s common enough. But it had never even crossed Goblin Slayer’s mind that it could someday happen to him. He’d certainly never tried to impress anybody. And to be thus chosen all of a sudden was unexpected, somewhat flattering and perhaps some kind of an error in judgment on behalf of Priestess.

Time passed in silence as he contemplated all of this and he realized that he’d been quiet for too long. And now Priestess’s face was falling as she looked down in regret, taking his silence as rejection.

It wasn’t rejection. He had no idea what it was. Last night he’d believed her to be dying and now she was springing _this_ on him. It was all too sudden and he didn’t know the socially appropriate way to react. The relief that she’d somehow pulled through the night was overwhelming and it made him realize what lengths he was willing to go to keep her alive and healthy and happy. It was alarming how reliant he’d become on her presence over those last two years, but even so, at that moment he was willing to do just about anything she asks. Perhaps it was a completely _wrong_ thing to motivate him at a moment like this, but he was going to at least make an effort for her sake.

“I’m sorry.” Priestess started to say. “I guess I’ve overstepped…”

She startled a little when Goblin Slayer placed a gloveless hand on her cheek, coaxing her to look back up, then his calloused thumb caressed her lower lip. Slowly, his arms wrapped around her slender shoulders and pulled her against his chest. Their lips pressed against each-other a bit clumsily. It was an interesting sensation – the taste and texture of her lips, the warmth of her gasping breath. The girl practically melted into his embrace. Could it really be that simple?

When she pulled back again, there was a flushed and dazed look on her face and her lashes fluttered enticingly over sapphire eyes.

He gave her an analyzing look until he was absolutely sure he had her full attention. “I can’t be… the way you expect me to be.” He tried to warn as best he could. He’d spent over five years of his life working with abused women, rescuing them from goblin nests and bringing them to the Temple for healing. As desensitized as he was to certain things, that kind of experience left a mark.

“I have no idea what’s going on in that stubborn head of yours,” Priestess said, “but as long as you keep doing this, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Then she leaned to steal another kiss. It was rather nice.  
“You know…” She started to say after a while, “Don’t you think it’s a little bit unfair?” Her gaze swept over him, down, then back up again, trying to illustrate her meaning. “Here I am all exposed, while you’re still fully dressed…”

One of Goblin Slayer’s eyebrows twitched up a bit at that. It was a tiny gesture; if she hadn’t been specifically looking for it, it would’ve been missed. He carefully nudged her off his lap then stood up. The pieces of leather armor were first to go – stripped off mechanically and put aside. Then came off the linen shirt, and then… everything else, all in one go.

Priestess’s eyes opened wider with surprise and the blush came back full force. She hadn’t really been expecting to get her way so easily. This was the first time she was seeing a man’s body like this. Even if a little lean for a warrior, Goblin Slayer was all hard-cut muscles and scarred skin. Armor or not, he was just as intimidating as before.

As she knelt on the blankets with all those thoughts going through her head, Goblin Slayer seemed content to stand aside and observe her calmly, simply waiting for her to gaze her fill and gather her wits.

Slowly, carefully, as if approaching some feral wolf, she stood up and came closer. She reached up with her right hand and made to place it on his chest. “May I…?” She decided to ask for permission, as there was no other way to guess where the boundaries lay.

“Mm.” He rumbled and she decided to take it as a ‘yes’. Her fingertips lightly brushed over too-pale skin. He had so many scars… But it was nothing she wasn’t already used to. The pectoral muscle twitched a bit at her attention and Goblin Slayer shifted, which prompted her to pull her hand away.

“What’s wrong?” She looked up and sought out his eyes.

“Tickles.” He admitted. “Lay your hand a little firmer.” In truth, he’d worn the armor for so long that he’d become unaccustomed to physical touch of any kind. The scarred patches of skin had barely any sensation at all, while the healthy ones threw warnings at the slightest touch. It was jarring.

“Oh.” The girl did as told, which felt much better. Her small hand slid carefully over the pectoral muscle, the ribs on his side, the firm stomach and abs, exploring all of the available skin with some misguided fascination. She hesitated over his navel and the path of dark hair leading further down, but then her courage seemed to leave her completely. Blushing like a tomato, she hid her face against his shoulder as if seeking some kind of protection, then whimpered.

Goblin Slayer didn’t move, but as close as she was, she could feel his chest shake in a quiet chuckle. “Don’t laugh,” She pleaded without daring to look up, “I’m already embarrassed enough.”

“I won’t.” He promised, then obliged her by wrapping both arms around her. For some reason the girl sighed and seemed to relax a little. It was somewhat endearing. Up close like this, her firm nipples were pressed against his chest and their stomachs were touching. It was rather nice. Everything about her was so soft and delicate and pleasing to the senses. Curious, his hand wandered along her spine. She shivered. “Don’t like that?” He guessed.

“No, no, it’s fine. I mean, you should really do that again.” She fumbled with the words, feeling thoroughly mortified. He hummed, then repeated the motion, which got the same reaction out of her.

At that moment Priestess realized that the awkwardness and embarrassment was all in her head. Goblin Slayer didn’t share it. He didn’t give a damn about it. For the two years they’d known each-other, she had yet to find anything that could embarrass this guy. But why was she so uncomfortable all of a sudden? She really couldn’t help herself.

“I’m cold.” She complained for lack of a better thing to say. It was still winter, after all, and the room wasn’t warm enough to stand around naked. There were goosebumps forming all over her arms.

“Is that so?” Without a warning, he grabbed her around the waist and picked her up as if she weighed nothing.

“Haa- hey!” She startled and grabbed onto his shoulders reflexively. He maneuvered her over to the bed and dropped her down on her back without much ceremony. The mattress bounced and made her breasts jiggle a bit. Leaning over her, Goblin Slayer saw the motion and looked rather interested. She gulped nervously. “It’s alright to touch them. If… if you’d like.”

He voiced a somewhat agreeable rumble. Then laid on the bed beside her, leaning on one hand, and reached out to cup her left breast. His palm was so warm and steady. Her breath hitched at the touch and she immediately felt heat and moisture pool in her loins. When his rough, calloused thumb played with the nipple, she couldn’t help herself and let out a loud moan.

“Good?” He asked and she nodded eagerly, not trusting herself to speak. He repeated the nipple flick and was rather pleased to get a repeat of the same reaction. She was so sensitive there. It made him wonder if there are any other spots on her body that would cause her to make more sounds like that. His hand slid up over chest, her delicate neck, then back down again, caressed the breast, slid across her flat stomach, then further down her thigh, then back up again to retrace the same path. She mewled like a kitten and tried to cuddle up closer to his body. When his hand wandered over her inner thigh, her legs willingly fell open.

Emboldened by this, he sat up in the bed and knelt between them, slightly leaning over her. She didn’t seem to mind, as that freed his other hand, which wasted no time in finding her breast and ghosting all over her body in the very same rhythm.

Priestess felt like her whole body was going to melt. Every press off skin against skin made her wish for more and more, yet his hands always skipped past the spot where she wanted them most. Her core was starting to feel unbearably hot and her lips down there were moist and swollen. It would’ve been embarrassing to be so easily affected by a few caresses, if it weren’t for the firm press of something against her inner thigh. So Goblin Slayer was affected by this, too…

“You can… um, put it in, you know.” She stumbled over the words. “If you want to.”

Goblin Slayer glanced down at his erection as if just now realizing it was there. He wrapped one hand around it and guided it towards her entrance, fumbling around a bit until he found the spot where the flesh gives way, then paused. His free hand caressed her breast again, slid up across her neck and settled over her cheek. When he made eye contact, she turned to nuzzle the middle of his palm and licked it. It sent a shiver down his spine. Taking it as encouragement, he slowly started to push the tip in until it met that inner barrier that was meant to be broken.

Priestess stiffened. This was it, wasn’t it? Was it going to hurt? Everybody says that the first time always hurts. But does it hurt _a lot?_

Priestess couldn’t help it as nervous tension overtook her whole body and made her tense all over. Before she knew it, her mind had started a constant mantra of _‘this will hurt this will hurt this will hurt…’_

Oblivious to all of this, Goblin Slayer shifted his hips and tore through her hymen in one decisive push.

“Gah…aaaAAAAAAH!” Priestess let out a sharp scream. It really did hurt. Her left leg shot out on reflex and almost kicked Goblin Slayer straight in the chin. It was only his trained reflexes that saved him as he nimbly dodged the hit.

Startled, Goblin Slayer flinched back as if being hit for real and immediately pulled away from her. That scream caught him completely off-guard. It felt like it pierced through his skull and dug all the way through the marrow of his bones. He’d heard oh so many screams like that over the years, from so many different women. It never failed to make him see red. Beaten, bleeding, crying, abused… memories of those came to mind unbidden. He remembered the missions, but not the victim’s faces. After a while, their features tended to fade away until they all looked like his dead sister-mother and their screams added fuel to his hatred.

"Goblin Slayer!!" Priestess's shout anchored him back to the here and now. He looked back at her sharply. She was curled up at the head of the bed, furthest away from him, with legs pulled up against her chest. She seemed somewhat upset. "What on earth are you doing??!"

He had no idea how to answer that. He'd moved off the bed without even knowing it. His breathing had gone rapid and uneven, his hands were shaking. When he looked down at them, he was suddenly holding a knife. Didn't have a sigle clue how it got there.

"Are we under attack??!" The girl demanded.

"No." There was a faint sizzling of energy in the air. Goblin Slayer realized that she must've put up a barrier inside the room.

"Where did you even get that thing??!" She glared at the plain throwing knife. He was butt naked, for crying out loud! Did he summon it from another dimension or something?

He shrugged. He tended to keep a lot of these around. But that wasn't really the point, was it? He'd reacted, even though there weren't any goblins nearby. And with nowhere else to go, the hatred took roots deep inside.

"I told you this was a bad idea." He stated, then tossed the knife down in frustration. Even though he couldn't see, it crossed the barrier harmlessly and got stuck between the floorboards on the other side. After that he stood up and swept his clothes off the floor with one hand, boots in the other, and marched off to the door.

"Huh?" Priestess watched him in complete bemusement. "Where are you going?

He stopped before the door and barely turned his head back to answer: "...Outside."

"Wait!!!" The girl leapt out of the bed. "You can't just leave!"

"But... This is clearly painful to you." He objected.

"It's my first time, silly. It's supposed to hurt _a little_." She tried to downplay it. It had actually stung pretty bad, but the pain was already ebbing away. She'd always had such a low pain tolerance, it was embarassing. "Get back here." She wrapped herself around his arm. "I'm so very cold."

"..." Those last three words made him reconsider. She tried to tug him back towards the bed. Even though she wasn't strong enough to make him do anything, he gamely allowed himself to be pulled.

They got under the blankets and she immediately snuggled up against his side. She couldn't help but notice the stiffness in his shoulders and the uneven breathing of his lungs. Without thinking, she placed a hand over his chest and started rubbing soothing circles in the scarred skin. "What happened back there?" She gathered her wits to ask.

"......" As expected, it took him unusually long time to reply. "Don't... make sounds like _that._ "

"Oh." Was all the girl could say to that. Somehow, it all made sense. "I won't. Promise." She whispered against his shoulder.

They lay in silence for a while, enjoying each-other's warmth in the chilly room and wathching through the window as the snow plowed on and on outside.

Suddenly, Priestess sat up in bed and turned to face him. Without any warning, she moved to straddle his waist and laid over his chest like a cat. Her soft nipples pressed against hardened skin as she leaned down to steal another kiss.

"What are you doing." Goblin Slayer asked flatly after she paused.

"Kissing you." She murmured, then licked her lips. It served to draw his gaze towards them. That's when she leaned in for another. She knew she'd won when he didn't try to push her off. He was strong enough to shove her away with just one hand, if he so wished, and it was exciting to have all that strenght at bay. Slowly, his lips parted to taste hers better.

In this position, her slender thighs were straddling his waist and his manhood was pressed right against her entrance. As the kiss grew heated, her lower lips grew warm and moist. Without any conscios thought, she shifted her hips and rubbed her clit against his hardening flesh. She moaned and bit his lower lip, then right after that, downt there a little bit of liquid pooled over his lenght. It twitched, then immediately filled out to full mast again. He grabbed her hips and pulled them down, hard.

She broke the kiss and licked her lips again, as if tasting that sweet, sweet wine from that night at the tavern. Made sure to make eye contact, then said: "...Let me try it this time, okay? Just... lay down. You don't have to do anything."

He made a somewhat agreeable rumble, which she took as agreement. Then she reached back and carefully wrapped her palm against his length. Gosh, it was hard. And warm, just like the rest of him, and she was surprized to sense his pulse beneath her thumb. How big were men supposed to be, exactly? Where was all of that even supposed to fit? She'd never seen any other men in such a state and had no idea what was average.

She guided the tip to her entrance with care and slowly started to push down. It stung a little as it stretched her on the way in, but she was determined to ignore it. Bit by bit, she struggled to take in more and more of his length inside of her, unaware of her pinched expression, or the way she was biting her lips, or how her hand was tightening more and more at the base of his shaft. When she finally squeezed too tight, his whole body shivered beneath her.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She immediately loosened her hold. "Did it hurt?"

"No." He admitted. "It was... rather nice."

"Oh." She said in realization. "Like this?" She did it again, but was disappointed when that didn't get the same reaction out of Goblin Slayer. This time he'd known to expect it and steeled himself.

"Mm."

In the end she managed to fit the whole girth inside and sat on his lap, panting and struggling to adjust. His length was warm and twitching in her muff, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. It still felt too tight, too much.

Somehow understanding this, Goblins Slayer placed his palms over her thighs, smoothed then up and down the pale skin, caressed her flat stomach as far up as he could reach. It seemed to help. Her taut body finally started to relax and let him in. And when she finally gathered enough courage to move, both of them gasped at the sudden friction. This... this was a game changer.

Priestess shifted her thighs up and down a few more times. Slowly, carefully, she tried out different angles and leverages, trying to figure out how it's done. It felt good, but wasn't enough. Her inexperienced movements were still too shy.

It was torture. Goblin Slayer wanted nothing but to grab her thighs and slam them down, yet was afraid of hurting her again. His knuckles whitened as he grabbed fistfulls of the sheets and held on. His whole awareness was focused solely on the point of contact between them and he knew he was slowly losing this battle. He was seconds away from losing it, and to hell with the conseqences.

"Whoa!" Priestess shouted as Goblin Slayer suddenly grabbed her thighs and flipped her over without breaking contact. "Aaah, wait...!" She whimpered as he shifted her to his convenience and settled between her thighs. He pulled her legs all the way up and pressed her knees firmly into the matress, bending her in half so that her entrance was nice and bare. Then he set up a brutal pace.

She moaned as her eyes rolled back. The first few thrusts felt a little tight, but there was something so exciting about having all that strenght over you, dominating you, bending you to its desires. Her passage rippled against her will and released an obscene amount of lubricant, welcoming the intusion without any complaint. In this position he could reach all the way in, hitting her depths with every thrust and bringing an unexpected bloom of pleasure. His assault was hitting her g-spot relentlessly and he had no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

It was too much. Wave after wave of pleasure was hitting her nerves, faster than she could handle. "Wai-aaah!" She tried once more, before the sensations became too much and she turned into a mewling mess, spasming around his length, curving her back off the matress, digging nails into the flesh of his back and adding new scars to his skin. He didn't even notice, concentrating on the task at hand and giving her no time to recover as he kept up fucking her through the bed.

She eventually came down from the high, yet he was still going. Not even out of breath. Seriously, that guy... At first he wouldn't start, now he won't stop. Her virgin muff was already sore. It was all too much. She tried to wiggle to find a more comfortable position, but his hands tightened around her thighs and he rumbled in protest, holding her firmly in place and keeping at it. She could do nothing but lay there and feel the constant slide in and out, in and out...

Oh gosh, never underestimate a warrior's stamina. Words, how do you use them? For some reason she couldn't remember how to speak...

At her plaintive whimper, he finally had the common sense to slow down a bit. He bent down to steal her lips in a bruising kiss, licked up her white throat, sank his teeth into her earlobe, sucked on her left nipple... His attentions were mindless and all over her body, yet very pleasurable. Soon enough, her vagina was rippling with renewed desire and ready for more. She gasped when he resumed rutting even faster than before, mindlessly chasing his own release. She felt another, smaller orgasm as he finally stilled and groaned, then slammed his hips as deep as they could go, curled over her and held her tight, spending himself inside.

Their heavy breathing was the only sound filling the room for a while. It slowly evened out.

At first Goblin Slayer didn't feel compelled to move, but when Priestess wiggled in complaint, he finally gathered the energy to pull off her. His thumb brushed against a newly-formed bruise on her white thigh as he let go, as if trying to rub away a smudge. "Sorry." He said.

"Don't." She chided.

He rumbled, then dropped on the matress beside her, completely spent. She immediately snuggled against him and he obliged her by shifting to make room for her, then started to drift off. Priestess giggled.

"That really wore you out, didn't it?" She teased.

"Mm."

She reached out to touch his head, playing around with the unkempt mane he called 'hair'. Goblin Slayer grumbled, but didn't have the energy to move or protest any further. At this point she could get away with pretty much anything.

How did it all come to this, she wondered in a sudden epiphany. From killing some goblins on that unfortunate day they first met, to coming to love this strange, hopeless man.

People had warned her about him from the start. Told her he was 'unstable'. 'Crazy'. 'Damaged.' And other such lables that were even less flattering than that. His appearance was just as strange as his manners, with the white hair a dead giveaway of the damage. But she couldn't help it. Ever since he'd saved her life, the safest place in the world was by his side.

Priestess had heard of many such cases at the temple. People who'd suffered through a great shock or terror could lose their mind or go white-haired prematurely. Sometimes it was reversible, though. If the person was still young; if they got a few peaceful years of rest with plenty of sleep and good food. With support from family and friends...

Priestess wasn't naive enough to believe she could change a person to her liking. Goblin Slayer might never make a decent wife out of her. But she couldn't help but love him. He'd saved her life, so she'd vowed to herself to see him through his self-imposed curse. She'd do anything she can to help him shoulder this burden, even if it tainst her.

Those efforts were not in vain. There was hope, she could see it, even if she wasn't prideful enough to think it was all due to her. Light and color was slowly starting to seep into his world, breaking him out of the tunnel vision. He was beginning to speak more; to take interest in things and people that didn't seem to exist to him before. One day he could live a normal life again, and then it would all be worth it.

The world may never run out of goblins. But she hoped, in a good way, that it could go short of one goblin slayer.

And surely enough, as she looked at a white strand curled between her fingers, all the way down at the roots, she could see the hair had started to grow black again.

Priestess smiled to herself. She blamed it all on this holy mountain and the healing energies of its god-blessed, ever snow-covered pine forests.


End file.
